


In The Shape Of A Boy

by Roostertease_it



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Enemies to Lovers, Friends to Lovers, High School, Homophobia, M/M, Manipulation, Mentions of Rape, Slow Burn, Violence, Vomit, attempted suicide, klance, klangst, mentions of abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-24
Updated: 2017-01-21
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:22:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 61,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7861585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Roostertease_it/pseuds/Roostertease_it
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Lance meets a boy in the middle of a rainy night he doesn't expect to see him the next day at his new school, but, turns out the dude is an asshole. </p><p>Tragic memories and horrific events have changed them but can Lance find the truth behind Keith's mask?. Can he learn to find happiness in a world that seems so keen on tearing it away from him?.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A Friend And A Foe.

**Author's Note:**

> Edit: [Here's some art i made for this chapter](http://roostertease-it.tumblr.com/post/149948717984/fanart-of-my-fic-in-the-shape-of-a-boy-because)

“Hey!, slow down” Lance called with a smile as his small excited puppy tugged at his leash. “It’s too late for you to be playing me like this, and mom said it’ll rain.” he looked at the sky, he had brushed off her earlier warning but the sky looked as if it would open up any moment now. He would go home but his puppy seemed so happy to be out. Nevertheless he knew he should turn around once the lamps sprung to life near him, the sky was losing light.

“Okay Rex, we’d better turn around buddy” He turned but the little dog kept pulling, with what looked like a little smile on his face. Lance's heart melted “Alright just one more block” he sighed and shook his head.

He looked at the leash in his hand and thought he could be tricking himself, was he really taking this walk for his dog?. Partially yes. But it was also because he was nervous. He’d be starting a new school soon and it was terrifying, the place was huge and had over a thousand students. And if it wasn't bad enough he was starting anew he would be joining in senior year. When everyone already knew each other and had their groups. Things like this didn't usually plague him like this but for whatever reason it was now.

He felt a drop on his face and wrinkled his nose, doubting himself. Then he felt another. His mother couldn’t be wrong once could she?. The rain began to fall quite quickly and was soaking into his jacket, his eyes searched for cover. He spotted a small covered alleyway and ducked inside. “It’ll stop soon” the animal looked doubtful.

He picked up Rex and cuddled him to his chest, because he looked like he was shivering. “It’s okay mi pequeño I’ll run us home if I have to.”

He heard a sound then, a distant one, that was drowned by the gentleness of the rain. It sounded like clapping maybe?. He stuck his neck out and concentrated. Whatever it was it was coming closer. He wanted to stick his head out, and would have if not for his dog who looked like he’d rather be in his bed.

Before he could decide what he thought the noise was it appeared before him. In the shape of a boy, a panting, dripping wet, scared looking boy. “Are you o-?”

The boy jumped into the alleyway and pushed him against the wall “Be quiet for a second please?.” He looked so desperate there was no way he could say no.

He pressed himself against the wall next to Lance and looked out at the street, with what Lance thought were tears in his eyes. But it could’ve been the rain.

The noise he now knew to be running feet against pavement sounded again. “KEITH!” A voice yelled. The boy tensed. Someone ran past very quickly and the boy let out a breath.

“Thank you.” He said.

“N-no problem, are you okay?.”

“I’ll be fine” he answered. “I have to go, thanks again” with that he took off, back in the direction he came. Lance was left with a strange feeling in his chest.

It was surreal. Things like that only ever happened in movies.

“Keith huh?”

He smiled to himself, suddenly feeling happy and more excited than nervous now. He was curious as to what spurred this, maybe adrenaline?, he laughed. “C’mon Rex let's go home”. He set off into the rain, his puppy tucked safely away in his jacket.

* * *

 

 Lance looked at his reflection and tried to no avail to flatten a piece of hair that stuck up strangely.

“Lance!” His mother called for the third time that morning. “You'll miss the bus!”

He didn’t really have to take the bus. His house was just in walking distance. It was about a twenty-five minute walk away, but his mother was worried he’d get lost or be late so he promised her he’d take it.

He frowned “Coming!” He made one last futile attempt at his hair and grumbled as it sprung up again. “Whatever”

He slumped downstairs. “No need to worry my son, everyone will love you”

“You have to say that you're my mom.” he saw her worried look and smiled. “I'll be fine.”

She grinned. “There's my boy!, now off you go”

She waved from the door and didn’t go inside until he rounded the corner. He didn’t have to look to know that, she always did it.

He moved his bag more comfortably on his shoulders and headed for the bus stop. A group of kids were already gathered there. The ones by themselves were shuffling from foot to foot and avoiding eye-contact. The others were in pairs or threes chattering. Lance stood on the fringes and contemplated saying something to someone that was alone but somehow couldn’t bring himself to. Instead he popped in his earphones and pretended to be interested in something on his phone.

Thankfully the bus turned the corner soon after he arrived. The kids piled in and he followed, nodding at the bus driver as he did. The bus was nearly full. There was no chance he’d be sitting alone. He spotted a big kid near the back who looked terrified. He sat down next to him and found the courage to smile up at him. “I’m lance”

“Hunk” He said shortly, “s-sorry” he laughed. “I’m a bit worried about today” he pulled some snacks out of his bag. “Want some?”

“Sure” Lance took a handful and decided he liked Hunk. “it’s my first day at this school”

“Same here! And I’m a senior”

“Me too” Lance smiled “I just moved here over the summer”

“Well nice to meet you” he smiled and seemed to be more at ease then. “I thought I’d be the only new guy” he was munching mindlessly, it looked like the eating helped him.

“Yeah I thought I would be too, I hope we have the same classes.”

“Fingers crossed.”

They stuck together when they made it too the school. On the way finding out that they actually got along very well. Once they found their way inside they discovered that they shared home room, and in turn most of their classes.

“Looks like fate aligned for us” Lance said, a grin plastered on his face. A teacher walked in. It was a young woman with platinum hair and blue eyes, she was beautiful. “She’s so pretty” Lance said without thinking. His hand jumped to his mouth but he’d said it quiet enough that only Hunk, who was currently trying his best not to lose it, heard.

“Hello everyone I’m Allura and I’ll be your homeroom teacher this year”, everyone was enraptured with her. He bounced his leg and looked from Hunk back to her. “I hope we can all get along this year and I th-”

The clicked open and everyone’s attention moved. A boy walked in, wait no, not just any boy. “Keith!” He said excitedly. He saw the look Keith gave him and shut up, immediately feeling embarrassed.

“Yes” the principal, a tall mustachioed man who had followed Keith in said, “This is Keith and though he’s a little late he’ll be joining this class”

The class watched as the Keith took a seat towards the back and chatter spurred when the principal began to speak to their teacher.

“How do you know Keith?” Hunk asked, looking concerned.

“I met him the other day when- wait do you know him?”

“Everyone knows about Keith, lance, He’s bad news”

“Hold on, I thought you were new here”

“I am but I didn’t move from very far, he’s infamous around here”

“Why? What’d he do?”

Hunk looked a little uncomfortable then. “It wasn’t really one or two incidences really. He’s gotten into a lot of fights and I mean a lot, He was even arrested a few times. I was in school with him last year, never spoke to him though.” Hunk’s eyebrows threaded together. “I’m not sure about him Lance, it’s just I've seen him fight and it’s scary.”

Lance nodded, trying his best not to probe his new friend further, but there were so many questions at the tip of his tongue. He tapped his fingers on the table. He was sure there was more to this Keith thing. Maybe the look he’d been given earlier was due to embarrassment and not contempt?, maybe he was scared that Lance might say something about what happened yesterday?. Whatever it was, he decided that it wasn’t as simple as it seemed.

A bell rung out. “Okay everyone, I would’ve liked to have more of a talk today but things happen. please look over your timetables carefully and remember be kind and polite. It will get you places that your skills can’t.”

The class headed out to their classes. Lance headed off with Hunk towards shop which was a room they found easily. The time passed quickly with Lance finding that he liked Hunk more with each passing hour. He also found that Keith seemed to stay at the back of the class and avoid any conversation with a glare.

At lunch Lance watched Keith from across the room. “Hunk, I think I should speak to him”

“I think you should not” Hunk said, almost immediately. “I mean, I wouldn’t advise it, he doesn’t look like he want’s you to speak to him”

“Yeah but I want to make it clear to him that I won’t tell anyone what happened the other-” He spotted the odd look Hunk was giving him. “No! No it wasn’t anything weird he just- I mean, well whatever. He might be worried or something”

“Okay… maybe wait until after school to say something. I just don’t think in front of a crowd of people is a good place to talk to Keith. Because you did call his name out earlier like you two were long lost loves.”

Lance’s mouth dropped open “I do not like him that way!, I recognised him from the other day!, Jeez-”

“You’re over explaining~” Hunk sang. “A key sign of guilt”

“Go fuck yourself” Lance laughed. “Anyway, I’ll talk to him after school, you know, clear the air or whatever”

He thought of what to say throughout the rest of the day. He didn’t want to scare the dude or make him think there was anything wrong, but by the time school was over he still hadn’t really decided what to say. Despite this he said goodbye to Hunk and rushed off in search of Keith. He asked a few people and eventually caught up to him on his way home.

“Keith!” He called. Keith looked over his shoulder and gave Lance such a look of disgust that he almost recoiled. He slowed to a stop near him and beamed. “It’s me!, from yesterday, remember?”

“I remember." He replied, there was already a sour look on his face. "what do you want?.”

“Well um, I thought you might be worried that I’d say something or whatever and I thought I should say that I wouldn’t say anything even though there really isn’t anything to say, but I thought I should-”

He scoffed “Shut up, I don’t care, leave me alone.”

Lance looked at him, shocked and unsure what to say. He laughed nervously “Yeah, sorry I was babbling wasn’t I?, sorry I-”

“Did you miss-hear me?, did I stutter?, I don’t care, leave me alone.” He turned and walked away, leaving Lance feeling small and stupid.

He clenched his fist and marched up to Keith. He grabbed his shoulder and pulled him around. “What the hell is your problem!?, what happened for you to treat me like this!. I helped you out the other night in case you forgot, hell, you freaking thanked me for it!. Whatever dude I tried to be nice to you, fuck you.”

Lance took a breath. He almost regretted saying it until Keith brushed his hand off and said “As far as I’m concerned I’ve never met you, yeah you helped me out but, newsflash, I never asked you to be my friend!. So for the last time I don’t fucking care, leave me the fuck alone, okay? Okay. ” Then he left and this time Lance didn’t say anything.

He stood and let his rage build, no rational thought crossed his mind. He wanted -badly- to run over and punch him in the face. He bit his lip and his nose scrunched. “Puto” He spat, kicking a nearby wall. “Puto, puto, puto.”

He open and closed his fist tightly a few times trying to force his anger to dissipate. It didn’t work. He glared off in the direction Keith had gone and shook his head before stomping away. He couldn’t make sense of this situation in his mind and that just frustrated him all the more. Why had he been so angry after being so nice the other day?, did he say something wrong?. No!, fuck that! He hadn’t said anything wrong. Keith had been out of order. He had a dumb mullet anyway.

He almost slammed his door once he got inside, but stopped himself. His mother didn’t need more worry in her life. So he closed the door softly and took a deep breath. “I’m home” he called.

“Lance! Mi hijo!” She rushed out to meet him “how did it go?” Her eyebrows were knotted, and she held her hands together.

He wasn’t about to tell her the truth. He grinned. “I made a friend on the bus, he’s in all most of my classes , he’s new too so it made it a lot easier.” Lance saw the worry lines on her face soften, it made him feel warm.

“Is he a friend or?” She tilted her head forward and shook it a little in anticipation.

“What do you- oh, no mam, I didn’t get a boyfriend on the first day of school” he shook his head. He smiled to himself at her question, she had fully accepted him a few years ago when he came out as bisexual. She was confused at first and still asked many questions but she tried her best to make it seem as normal as possible. “Just a friend”

“Well that’s nice, you must bring him over one day and I’ll make something good, he could stay over as well”

“I’ll bring him soon, I’ll go up and do my homework now, see you later”

“Ah homework on the first day, that is mean, I’ll call you down for dinner”

Lance headed upstairs and sat at his desk. He rested his head on the wood surface, it was so quiet. He felt tears sting his eyes. It was always quiet these days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to write lance as Latinx but I'm unsure if i'm portraying it correctly?, I mean you haven't seen much yet and I've done some research but like idk???. I really don't want to offend anyone. mAybe i should just take it out. AAH.
> 
> Anyway this is my first klance fic and i'm not sure I should keep going? I've got a huge plot in mind.....


	2. Rivalry Begins.

“Lance! Hurry up!.” Lance’s eyes opened and he yawned, rubbing his eyes. His glanced at his clock and did a double take at the time. 8:29, the bus would be there in six minutes. He had a sharp intake of breath and leapt from him bed.

“Shit!”

He shot into action. Stumbling around from the speed at which he got up. He pulled on his jeans and began searching his floor for clean tops, he smelled a few and pulled on the third. He forced his shoes on and grabbed his jacket and bag. He ran downstairs.

“Lance did you just wake up?” his mother asked.

“Yeah.”

“Oh I would have waken you if I knew I’m sorry.”

“No Mamá, I forgot my alarm, now I have to go before I miss the bus” He kissed her cheek and left. He felt her hand pat him as he went.

His mind was just waking up as the morning air hit. It was getting colder already. Summer was retreating back to reveal autumn. He picked up the pace and saw the last kid get on the bus a few feet away.

“Wait!” he yelled, He sped into a sprint. “Mierda”

He hopped on, out of breath.

“I hope you don’t make being late a regular thing” The tired looking bus driver said. “I won’t be waiting for you on the regular.” He shut the door roughly, as if making a point.

“No, I won’t.” He replied. ”Sorry.”

He smiled when he saw Hunk and went to sit next to him. He caught Keith’s glare from the back of the bus. Ever mature, he stuck out his tongue at him. “Morning Hunk.” He waved cheerily.

“Hey Lance I-” He stopped and his eyes whipped up and down. he leaned in “Your shirt’s on backwards buddy. second day troubles.”

He looked down. The label was sticking out. He zipped it his jacket up the whole way. He scratched the back of his head, laughing a little. “I’ll fix this when we get to school.”

“Wake up late huh?.”

“Yeah I woke up like five minutes ago, I should tell you what happened with Keith yesterday.” Hunk nodded and he recounted his tale, Hunk giving a hmm, or a really!? Where appropriate.

“See I told you he was trouble.” Hunk whispered shaking his head. “You should just avoid him from now on, he’s not worth the trouble.”

“Yeah I got it.” Lance agreed. “I’ll avoid him now for sure.”

As soon Lance got inside school he rushed to change. He slipped inside a janitor's closet, telling Hunk he’d catch up to him soon.

“It’s the second day and I can’t trust myself not to be an idiot” He muttered to himself as he pulled his shirt off.

Click. It was a soft sound and he couldn’t say that he definitely heard it or confirm what it was. He put his top and jacket back on. The he turned the handle and pushed. The door didn’t open. He checked it again, pulling this time. “Fuck my life are you kidding?.” He shook the door back and forth. He punched the door twice. “Help!.”

He couldn’t be late for his first class on the second day of school. He just couldn’t. He wiggled with the handle?, maybe it was stiff?. The click. His shoulders drooped. It was the door locking. He sat on the floor, he’d have to wait until the janitor came back.

He took his phone out of his backpack and thought about texting Hunk but the thought of him getting caught because of a text tone prevented him. Instead he played candycrush for five minutes until it made him bored. He pulled up his pokemon go but there was nothing around.  
“Aaahhh” He sprawled out on the floor.

He sat bolt upright when he heard someone fiddling with the lock, he grinned. The door clicked open and light peeked through then the person stepped in. It was Keith. “Why the hell are you here!?.”

Keith let out a yelp and jumped backwards. “What are you doing here!?”

“None of your business, dickweed, why do you have the key-” That’s when lance spotted that he didn’t have a key. He was holding stuff that looked like… Lock picking things. “Why the hell did you pick the lock to a janitor's closet?.”

“Why are you locked in a janitor’s closet in the first place, douchebag?.” He stood there, unmoving.

“Can you get out of the way?,” Lance said, patting off his clothes. “you’re being fishy as shit, just so you know. Who the hell lock-picks a janitor’s closet without having weird intentions?.”

Keith looked flustered at being caught out, but was on defence quickly. “Who taught you to be so damn nosy anyway?.”

“Whatever Keith, I’m going to class and you should to, not that I care. because I don’t.” He brushed past Keith, feeling a little relieved he was out of there.

“I bet it’s just the way you were raised.”

There was a moment where Lance was unsure if he heard that right. He stopped. “Excuse me, what the fuck did you just say to me?”

He whipped around “I said, I bet it's just the way you were raised.”

“Take it back.” Lance said, blood was beginning to rush to his brain. The silence continued between them and Keith’s glare remained strong. “Take. It. Back.”

“No.”

Lance grabbed Keith by the shirt and pushed him against the wall. “Take it back!” He yelled.

“Fuck you.” Keith gave him a skillful punch making Lance recoil.

Lance almost growled before he threw his weight at Keith, tackling him to the ground. “Don't you ever talk shit about my family!, ever!”

“Get the fuck off me you freak!” Keith wiggled and kneed Lance in the stomach.

Lance fell back on his heels, clutching his stomach, but he bounced back quickly. Attempting a punch at Keith, who grabbed his fist and instead Lance got punched. He clutched his face, his nose was bleeding.

“Stop!. right this instant!” Allura yelled pushing the boys apart. He'd been so focused on Keith that he didn't even notice her. “Principal’s office. Now. Both of you ”

Lance stood up and brushed himself off. Allura escorted them to the principal’s office and sat them down outside before she went to talk to him.

Lance held a tissue to his face and felt foolish, Keith had a strong punch and very good reflexes even if Lance had the upper hand in brute force. His face stung and his stomach ached. He knew Keith was sitting there next to him feeling superior and it made his blood boil.

“This is your damn fault Lance, you didn't have to start a fight, idiot.” Keith muttered.

“My fault!, my fault!?” Lance turned to face Keith. “If you took back that shit you said then I'd be in class right now and you'd be doing whatever weird shit you were going to do in the janitor’s closet.”

“I wasn't doing anything weird!, I had to- whatever!” he shook his head and crossed his arms.

Allura walked out at faced them. “Principal Coran is waiting for you. I’d suggest you leave the attitude at the door boys.” She ushered them inside and closed the door after them.

“Sit down” He said. They complied. The principal shuffled some papers, then put them inside a drawer. He started to write. Lance started to bounce his leg.

“Excuse me but are you going to take long I ne-”

“Mr Kogane, i’d thank you not to interrupt me while I’m working and there’s nowhere you should be going in a hurry while class is in session.” He put his pen down gently. “Now Mr McClain, What on earth just happened?”

“I…” He looked at the principal and thought for a second. “Um-”

 

“Can you not just get on with it.?” Keith snapped. Lance looked at him blankly. Keith seemed like he really wanted out of here.

“I don’t think I asked you.” He gestured for Lance to continue.

“Well… I got on the bus today and my shirt was on backwards so I wanted to change it.” Keith snorted at this. “I… I thought I’d rush and do it before class started and people noticed, but someone locked the closet when I was inside. Then he came along and let me out. He said something about my family and I got angry.”

“I don’t know why but I believe you’re telling the truth. Do you understand what you did wrong?”

“He should have take-” He stopped himself, it was hard but he did it. He sighed “I shouldn’t have attacked him like that.”

“Good. Okay, Mr Kogane, your turn.”

“I was running late to class because I was in the bathroom, then I heard this guy in the closet so I let him out,” This was all a blatant lie but it seemed Coran was believing it. “I started calling him an idiot because who the hell gets themselves locked in- anyway- it got personal and he attacked me out of nowhere.”

“Hmm.” Coran scratched his chin. “Is this true?.” He directed this question at Lance.

Lance looked at Keith again, and for a moment he saw something flash in his eyes. Something that resembled the boy who had begged for help a few days ago. He shrugged. “Sounds about right.”

“Right. As principal I must say we don’t take fighting in our hallways very lightly. I have to punish you two for these actions. I Think detention will suit.” The par sighed “Tomorrow after school-”

“Sir, I can’t stay after school I have to get home before six.”

He nodded. “I forgot your situation, Okay Saturday for two hours, I want both of you here at ten am sharp.”

His situation?, Whatever could that mean?. If the principal was aware of it then it had to be something serious?. Why would he have to be home that early?. His brain was just overflowing with questions.

“Mr McClain!, I said do you understand?”

“Oh yeah- yes- sorry!”

“Okay, well that’ll be all then, Give your pa- guardians this letter and back to class with you two.”

They got up and filed out. Lance was about to ask Keith why he had lied, or what was his situation but he rushed off before he could get a word out. He watched Keith disappear around a corner and decided he didn’t care.

It was only at lunch when he found a chance to properly tell Hunk what happened. Once he’d gotten over laughing about Lance getting locked into the janitor’s closet he listened carefully and then gave his opinion. “I have to admit it is really fishy and I’m very curious but I don’t think you should get involved. But I think I do know why he has that weird curfew” He peeked around and leaned in a little closer. Lance was intrigued. “He’s a vampire”

He leaned back and slapped hunk on the shoulder. “Dude I thought you were going to come out with this big secret story about him or something!” He laughed along with Hunk and felt a little better about the day’s events.

“I feel bad about attacking him but sometimes I can’t stop myself… I feel worse about the worrying this will cause my mom. I don’t want her to think I’ll be getting detention every week.” He thought about giving his mother the letter and her face as she read it.

“It’ll be fine Lance as long as you make this a one time thing. Oh, and stay away from Keith and try and keep to it this time.”

“Hey I didn’t try and get involved!, I hate the guy.”

“I know, I know.”

“whatever, you’re right anyway, my mom won’t be happy but she’ll get over it.”

He got home later that day, clutching the letter in his hand and feeling ashamed. He didn’t want to give her any more weight to add to her shoulders. He walked inside solemnly, and closed the door quietly. He looked around the house and found his mom in the living room. “Mamá.” he said.  
“Ah, Lance you’re home.”

He didn’t make eye contact, he kept his head lowered. “I’m sorry.” He said handing her the note. He peeked up as she read it. He noticed, despite his anxiety, that her eyes were a bit puffy. Like she’d been crying. His stomach sunk further and he felt like the scum on the bottom of a bin.

"Estúpido!” She yelled her eyebrows furrowed. “¿Por qué se anda metiendo en peleas mijo??” she shook her head. He didn’t understand much spanish. “Why are you fighting?”

“He said something about our family” Lance muttered. “And I got angry, I’m sorry.”

“What did he say? Did he mention-” She stopped herself. “You shouldn’t be fighting anyone!, stay away from this boy and his mean words. Estúpido!. Ve a tu cuarto!” He’d heard that one enough times as a child.

He slunk upstairs, his mother’s look of frustration burned into his mind. He felt so guilty but he couldn’t help it. He felt even worse knowing she’d been crying before he got home. He shut his curtains, kicked off his shoes and curled up in his bed. “I’m sorry.” he said into his blanket. “I’m sorry.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> alright alright alright..... I've decided to keep this story going! so prepare for ANGST.... ANd sub-par humour... 
> 
> also please feel free to correct me on the spanish!, I used multiple websites to try and find the best translation but I'm not good with languages anyway so please if i've made a stupid mistake tell me!.


	3. Anything You Can Do I Can Do Better.

Lance was walking to school the day after his fight with Keith. He hadn’t felt like getting the bus that morning as if he had, he was much more likely to encounter Keith. Which currently didn’t seem like a good idea. He thought about the fight again. He still felt foolish, and guilty. And the pain he felt when he did anything more than breath quietly or sit still was immense. He had a bruise across the left side of his face and on his nose. He had a bigger one under his ribs. He wanted to take the day of school but he wasn’t about to start feeling sorry for himself.

He kept his head lowered and kicked at a stone on the pathway, sighing a little. He swung his gym bag and wished he didn’t have gym that day. He usually liked it, and was up for the exercise but he just didn’t want to. Running about felt a bit like too much work at that current moment, especially with his injured body.

He found Hunk in homeroom and slid into the seat next to him. “Morning.”

“Jeez your face!” Hunk said, his eyes wide.

“Wha- oh yeah… I would say you should see the other guy but Keith definitely came out of the fight better.” Lance said, glancing over at Keith, who didn’t have a scratch on him.

“You could say that again. Did you miss the bus?.”

“Nah, just felt like walkin’” Lance replied.

“Everything okay?” Hunk asked smiling kindly. He seemed concerned.

“My mom got angry at me yesterday for the fight… I knew she would but I feel bad about it… I dunno.” Lance explained.

“Isn’t that good though?, feeling bad about it?, I mean if she knows you regret it she’ll probably forgive you quicker.” Hunk said gently.

“Yeah… I suppose so.” Lance thought about what he’d said and decided he was right. He still felt guilty but there wasn’t much he could do about that at this point. After that he felt like a little weight had been lifted. “Thanks.”

“No problem, no problem.” Hunk said.

Allura came in and Lance saw her widen her eyes at his bruise. “Morning class.” She said and everyone was brought to attention. People seemed to respect her here, but he’d also seen students talk to her like they were best friends. 

Lance was suddenly struck with guilt, he buried his head into his arm and groaned inwardly. He felt bad for causing her trouble yesterday. He waited until Homeroom had finished and rushed to the top of the class. “Ms?.” He said.

She turned and cringed a little at his bruise. “Yes Lance, what is it?.”

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for what happened yesterday.” Lance said.

Allura smiled. “That’s perfectly alright, as long as it doesn’t happen again. We can’t have fight breaking out every other day. I also suggest you make it your business to stay away from Keith. He’s a very troubled boy and I don’t think your friction much helps him, or you for that matter.”

“Thanks for the advice.”

“Keep it in mind!, see you in English.” She clutched her large, overfilled binder to her chest and headed off.

“That was nice.” Hunk said. He’d been waiting outside the door. “She gave some sound advice.”

“Yeah, yeah I’ll avoid Keith.” Lance said. Little did he know how hard that was about to become.

“Are you kidding me?” Lance muttered. Gym had been a bad prospect at the beginning of the day, when his only affliction had been his bruises and laziness but now it was a few hundred times worse. 

A few moments before then he had stepped forward at the request, “If anyone hasn’t got a partner please come up to the front.”

“Oh good.” Coach ‘call me Shiro’ Shirogane had said. “Only two.”

Lance looked to his left. “Are you kidding me?.”

Keith. There were hundreds of students in that school and the only one without a partner in gym was him. The world didn’t seem so keen on giving him a break. “Sir, do I have to work with him?.”

“Well yeah… why?, is there a problem?.” 

“No I don’t have a problem. It’s just…” He looked at Shiro’s face, slightly concerned and eager to get on. “Nevermind.”

“Okay . If everybody is ready then start your stretches!.” 

“I don’t want to work with you either you know.” Keith said.

“Let’s just stretch.” Lance said, copying the stretch Shiro was showing the class. He was pulling his elbow across his chest. It hurt and he stopped after a few seconds, it was pulling a muscle near where his bruise was.

“What? Is that too much for you?” Keith sneered. 

“It hurts!” He said.

“Sure.”

Lance went back to the stretch, this time pulling harder and scowling at Keith as he did so. It hurt like a bitch but he wasn't about to let keith think he was a weakling. At least compared to Keith, especially after how bad he’d been beaten by him yesterday.

The next stretch involved bending. You had to touch the tip of your fingers to your feet. While this was going on, Lance noticed, despite himself, that Keith had a very nice butt. He didn’t mean to look. But it was right there. As a matter of fact his legs were quite- He averted his eyes and mentally scolded himself. It was those damn gym shorts. Too revealing.

Shiro blew a whistle after they’d done a few more stretches. “Alright now Get into your pairs and come up here!.” The class gathered in front of Shiro. “We’re doing laps of the track today-” He was interrupted by the groans of about twenty students. “- just to see what you’re capable of, remember that to go at your own pace! Everybody’s different. Now line up in your pairs.”

Th class did as told but not without a complaint or two or maybe ten. “Okay just do as many laps as you can, at least two for everyone!, and go at a good pace alright! On my whistle” Lance and Keith shared a glare. It was on. 

They sprang into action as the whistle blew. Lance was surprised to find out just how fast Keith was. He bolted ahead. But Lance had more power. He quickly caught up. They broke away from the pack almost immediately. but the dull pain he felt was beginning to grow into an active throb. But Hell if he wasn’t going to lose to Keith. “That all you got!?.”he spat.

“I saw you lagging at the start Lance!” He replied flippantly. 

Lance grunted as he pushed ahead. “Beat that, punk” He threw back. Grinning. His lead didn’t last long before Keith was hot on his heels.

“You’ll never be able to beat me!” 

Lance felt a fiery rush of energy at that statement. “Don’t underestimate me!”

They were looking at each other now, glares locked on. That’s when Lances foot twisted. He fell sideways, taking Keith down with him. “Mierda!” He winced as they hit the ground. “Fuck” The pain was immense now. He gripped his side.

“Get off me!” Keith shouted. He was face first on the floor and Lance was splayed out on top of him. He leapt up.

“S-sorry!” He held his hand out to Keith but it was promptly batted away. 

He heard the words; “Dumb fuck” hissed at him with venom.

Shiro jogged over to them. “Now boys, I appreciate the enthusiasm but that wasn’t really pacing yourself now was it?.” Neither boy replied. “I think you should both head up to the nurse’s office. I saw you twist your foot there lance, It looked pretty brutal. And Keith, that scratch on your knee needs a look at. Off you go.”

Keith got up and marched away. Lance followed, not bothering or really wanting to catch up. After a few seconds he realised he didn’t know where the nurse’s office was. He’d look like an idiot if he turned around. He made sure to keep Keith in his sight. It turned out that it was pretty close. He waited for a while after he saw Keith go inside, he didn’t want Keith to know he’d been following him.

Inside was a standard Nurse’s office, with the medicines in locked cabinets and the contents of first aid kits on the desk. Keith was sat on the examining table with a sour look on his face. A woman was rustling through some cupboard’s. She smiled at Lance. “Jesus you look like you’ve been through the wars!, and I suppose you’re the young man that fell onto this other young man. Take a seat love, I’m Mary.”

“Lance.” He replied. Her voice was gentle, rather motherly and also decidedly Irish.

She went and gathered some things for Keith. She was holding a strip of bandages and some of the stuff used for cleaning cuts. Lance stared hard, what was it called. “Antiseptic!” Keith and Mary looked at him. His mouth had betrayed him once again. “I forgot the word…”

“You’re a funny one.” Mary said, laughing. “Now Keith show me those hands-”

“Mary!” The call came from the door. “Jenny’s fainted again.”

“God alive, that girl!” Mary placed the things she was holding on the bench next to Keith and grabbed something else from the cupboard. “I told her to be careful and eat!, she’s a weak one. Needs all the energy she can get!” She headed for the door. “Oh, Lance was it?- be a love and take care of his cuts!, That’d be great!”

She was gone before Lance could take in what she’s said. He made eye-contact with Keith. “I’ll do it myself, thanks.”

“Whatever dude I don’t care.” Lance watched on as Keith winced while opening the antiseptic bottle. “Look just let me do it.” Lance said, walking over. “You’re getting nowhere.”

“I can-”

Lance took the bottle away from Keith. “I’ll get it done and you can leave, then we’ll both be happy.” He poured the liquid onto the cloth that Mary had left. He took one of Keith's upturned hands and pulled it closer. As he held it he noticed the difference in size. It wasn’t that much, but Lance bet if they were to compare that his would be slightly bigger. He took the cloth and dabbed the it over the grazes, he felt Keith’s hand tense as he dabbed the cloth over the grazes. They were on the heel of both hands and were very red. Like he needed anymore guilt that day. “Sorry” He said.

“Whatever.”

Lance didn’t feel all that bad for him anymore. He pressed the cloth a little harder that time. “Oops.”

“You did that on purpose!.”

“Maybe. But you deserved it.” He said giggling.

He kneeled down and moved onto Keith’s knee, which he hadn’t really gotten a proper look at before. It was a bad graze, one where spots of blood appear, and begin to grow into drops. He bet it stung like hell. He dabbed the cloth onto it. “Fucking hell” Keith swore.

Lance removed the cloth. “I think that’ll do for that one.” He stuck on the large knee plaster over the graze. “There, all done.”

Keith hopped off and went for the door. He paused before he left. “Thank you.” it was quiet but audible.

“He just thanked me!” Lance shook his head. How could one person be so inconsistent. He sat back down and waited, then got bored of waiting and began to peer at the things in the room. It wasn’t long before Mary returned.

“Sorry dear.” She said. “Keith got away alright did he?, his grazes all patched up?.”

“Yes ma’am.” He said, saluting her. “Is that girl okay?.”

“Who?, Jenny?, Yeah she usually comes round pretty quickly poor girl, she’s just a bit weak is all” she shook her head. “Alright sit up here for me.” she said patting the examination table. “What’s your problem then?.”

“Twisted my ankle, but it doesn't really hurt much. I didn’t hurt anywhere else either, Keith sorta broke my fall.”

She laughed, the corners of her eye’s and mouth creasing into warm wrinkles. “I heard that and all!.” She examined his ankle “There doesn’t seem to be any swelling… give your foot a turn and tell me how it feels.”

He rotated his foot in a few circles. “It feels fine.”

“Grand job, you can go ahead and leave so. I wouldn’t overdo it though, so no more gym today. But there isn’t much wrong with it at all at all, I’d say you were lucky with that.” She said. “And I don’t care how handsome you are I don’t want to see you back here too often.”

“Thank you!, goodbye.” He waved and felt a fondness for her.

He went back to gym but made no haste, he’d be sure to be sat next to Keith doing work or something. He trailed his fingers along the wall next to him. He was glad he didn’t hurt himself badly or he’d have to explain that to his mother too. He clenched his fist. “Concentrate.” he whispered to himself. He needed to focus on being good, he needed to stop getting caught up in Keith. And his own stupidity for that matter.

“Lance, what did the nurse say about your foot?.” Shiro asked as he approached the track.

“Oh, um she said it was fine but no more gym today and to take it easy.”

“You’re lucky then!, I thought for sure it was a sprain or something, it was a nasty fall. Okay you can go with Keith and tidy the store cupboard for the rest of class.” Shiro left him then and went back to the class.

“Great!” He muttered. He sloped over to the bench where Keith was sitting. “We have to tidy-”

“Shiro told me already.” said getting up. He led the way once again and Lance was happy to follow.

The store room looked exactly how a store room should look. There was sport equipment piled high in lockers. There was a few things strewn around the room. They began to pick them up and put them inside the lockers. They worked in a stony silence and Lance desperately wanted to talk about something, just to break this silence, he couldn’t stand silence, but by the look on Keith’s face he could tell anything he’d say wouldn’t be received well.

Lance was stacking cones in a locker and through the gaps he could see Keith, who was trying to reach a tennis racket on the top of the shelf. It was just out of reach. Lance put the cones down and went over. Lance reached over his head and took down the racket he was trying to get.

“D-did I ask for help?.” said Keith, stepping away from Lance.

“Well no… Wait Keith are you okay?, you look a bit red?.” His face was flushed from his cheeks to the tip of his ears. 

“I’m fine!” He said, snatching the racket from Lance. “It’s just hot in here.”

“Okay.” He saw Keith take a hair-band out of his pocket and tie up his hair. The nape of his neck looked really soft. Lance put his hand to his chest and looked down. Did his heart just flip?. Maybe it was hot in there. He cleared his throat. “I-I think it is too hot in here.”

“Yeah!” Keith replied. “Way too hot.”

They worked faster then. Both trying to get the last few minutes out of their heads. Lance was flooded with relief when Shiro opened the door to tell them class was up. 

Lance neglected to mention the entirety of that classes events to Hunk. He had never left school faster than that day because he didn’t trust himself with what he’d say. He’d been checking Keith out. He blushed even thinking about it. “No. No. you weren’t checking Keith out because it’s Keith it’s because he’s a dude, and you like dudes.” He whispered to himself on the way home. “And girls” He added.

“Hola Mamá.” He said as he entered the house. There was no reply. He went into the kitchen, there was a note on the fridge. ‘I won’t be back until late, dinner is in the freezer.’ it read. Come to think of it he hadn’t seen her that morning. He checked the garage. Her car wasn’t there either. It didn’t take much to guess where she’d gone. He crumpled the note and threw it into the bin.

He heard a yap and saw Rex’s face at the patio door. He let the tiny animal inside and scooped him up. “Buen chico.” He said letting him lick his face. “Walk?” He let out an ‘arf’ and wagged his tail excitedly. “Thought you might like to.”

A minute later they were outside and Lance was trying to use the air to clear his head. Today had been a bit… much. He banished any thought of today from his mind and ran a little with Rex. That was, until his ankle started to hurt and he remembered again. “Rex how do you forget things?.” He asked, rubbing the back of his neck and sighing aloud.

He saw someone in the distance. “Is that-” He looked down at his puppy. “Rex i’m imagining him in places now. I’ve gone over the edge- Shit it is him.”

Lance felt himself walk forward. He saw Keith walking, no being pulled by the arm by some guy. A big guy with dark hair and an unpleasant look on his face. Lance guessed he was about two years their senior. It looked like they were arguing. Though it seemed to be coming more from the other guy's side. Lance felt himself move closer. He was curious. He picked up Rex and followed. He approached them, hiding behind a wood fence. He watched as Keith tugged his arm from the boy’s grip.

“Can’t we just go back?... I wanna finish my book.” He sounded a lot more docile than he was in school.

“No. We’re going today.” He didn’t consider anything Keith had said. He grabbed his wrist and pulled him along. “So just keep your mouth shut.” He said shut with such force that Lance thought it might blow Keith over. It definitely shut him up.

They disappeared down the road and Lance let Rex down. “That was weird wasn’t it mi pequeño?. I hope he’s okay.”

That had certainly distracted him from what happened that day. But the problem was now he was just thinking about something else that had to do with Keith. “Why is it always him?.” Lance asked himself.


	4. Joint Detention.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [ I made a klance Fanvid!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YF-UhWiZBRM)
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter is the longest I've written so far and I really enjoyed it!, so I hope you do too. Thanks so much for your comments, they keep me going!.

Lance had made it a point to avoid Keith for the rest of that week. Much to Hunk’s delight. He couldn’t be more happy when they stayed clear of him, though try as he might Lance couldn’t help but bring him up sometimes. He had a raging curiosity to know more about his situation, and about the night they’d met too. he tried to brush it off as often as he could. Which wasn’t very often.

“So you really don’t know about this curfew thing?.” Lance asked. He peered around the lunchroom for Keith but he never seemed to be there.

“I’m telling you for the last time Lance I never listened to the things people said about him, I thought it was safer just to avoid him, even the gossip. I thought you hated him anyway?.” Hunk said, concentrating on his lunch. “And he gave you that nasty bruise too”

Lance put his hand to his nose where it still felt sore and there was bluish bruise. It wasn’t that big but it hurt like hell. The one on his rib hurt way more and was considerably bigger too.

“I do!, I do Hate him, I just can’t stop thinking about it. Don’t you think it’s weird?, I think it’s weird.” Lance said, through a mouthful of sandwich.

“Ugh man close your mouth.” though his mouth was full too. “Yes of course I think it’s weird i’m just rational enough to keep my nose out of things that aren’t my business.”

“Hunk…” Lance said, laying his hands on the desk. “Man, dude, buddy, please.”

“I can’t give you information about something when I don’t have it.” Hunk looked at Lance then. “Why don’t you just ask him yourself if you’re so bothered?”

“I mean, I could, I guess.” Lance sighed and leaned his head on his palm. “Maybe I will.”

“No, Lance.” Hunk chuckled. “I was joking. Joking.”

“Yeah but we have joint detention tomorrow so I have like two hours with the dude what am I gonna do be silent the whole-”

“Yes.” Hunk answered. “I’m sure Keith would be grateful if you didn’t talk to him. He obviously didn’t take it well the other day. And the last time you two spoke it ended in a fight and joint detention so I would suggest keeping quiet.” He carried on and didn’t seem to want much of a reply, to Hunk the subject was closed.

Lance bit his lip. Keeping quiet, or still for that matter, wasn’t a skill he had. Hunk was right in any matter, it didn’t do anyone any good for him to interact with Keith. He decided, once again, that he didn’t care. “You’re right Hunk.” Lance admitted, thinking that he’d be saying that sentence a lot in their friendship. He dropped the subject completely and they talked nonsense for the rest of lunch.

 

* * *

 

 

Lance walked to school with his mother on his mind. She hadn’t yet forgiven him for getting into a fight and constantly gave him disapproving looks, but she was easing up and had even made him breakfast that morning.

He wasn’t looking forward to spending two silent hours with Keith and wasn’t sure if he could keep his mouth shut. It was pretty much an impossibility, but he’d try.

It felt strange to walk through the gates into a quiet school barren of any sort of regularity. It was almost like he was in a post apocalyptic world. He entered the school and the feeling grew, there was the distant sound of machines buzzing but other than that it was quiet. He sneaked along the hallway, almost in a crouch, feeling like he was intruding.

“What the fuck are you doing?.”

Lance jumped out of his awkward stance. He turned to face Keith. “Nothing… I mean it was quiet and I thought-” He stopped talking, registering Keith’s face. “You don’t care right?.”

Keith gave a curt nod “Right.”

“Where do we have to go for this?, did Principal Coran tell you?.” Lance asked.

Keith kept on walking. “Just follow me.” He said, nearly inaudibly.

He ran a bit then stopped a few steps behind Keith to follow him. He walked swiftly, with purpose. He looked like he knew what was going to happen at every possible second. “You know I noticed you following me the other day.”

“No I wasn’t.” Lance replied, feeling embarrassed at being caught out.

“Please it was obvious.” He turned a corner swiftly. “Then you waited outside the office.” He thought he saw Keith chuckle.

He felt his face redden. “Wha- I didn’t know where the nurse’s office was.”

“That wasn’t clear.” Keith said sarcastically.

“Whatever.” Lance said, getting flustered and not knowing what to reply. He knew he’d think of a great comeback later and it’d be too late.

They went through a pair of double doors. Lance recognised this place. Keith had brought them to the principal’s office, where Coran was waiting.

“Glad to see you made it boys, Please follow me and I’ll take you to the detention room.” He said, heading down the hallway.

He’d heard of this room in the short time he’d had at the school. It was rumoured to be as generic a room as possible, grey-coloured walls with none of those brightly coloured information posters that were a staple in any normal classroom. The desks were supposedly covered in pen graffiti and had gum stuck all underneath. He could almost see the bars on the windows. Lance would never admit it but he was a little nervous to enter this room.

“Here we are.” He waved them in. “Pick a seat and park yourself in it.”

He looked inside apprehensively. His shoulders dropped when he saw how regular the room looked. The windows were barless and the walls colourful. The only similarity between the rumour and the reality was the desks covered in pen. When he sat down and peeked underneath, he confirmed the existence of old wads of gum. He kept his hands on the desk.

“Oh, can I have your consent forms?.” Keith’s one was already on the table, it had one crease in the middle where it had been folded. Lance had to fish his from his bag, it was a little (very) crumpled. He handed it to Coran, who didn’t look surprised in the least. He perused each page and nodded. “This all looks fine.”

He sat down at his desk. Lance waited for him to speak again. He didn’t say anything else. Lance peered over at Keith. He was sitting with his arms crossed tightly and his legs crossed and stretched out in front of him. He was staring at Coran. Lance waited.

“Excuse me but you forgot something.” he said.

Lance looked at Coran. “What did I-?, oh right your assignments!” He fumbled around at the drawers and plucked some papers out. “It seems mr Kogane that you’re used to the inner workings of detention. That isn’t a compliment by the way.” He placed a line page on both of their desks along with a pen. “I want you to write an apology letter.”

“Easy.” he heard Keith mutter, picking up his pen.

“And I want you to write it to each other.”

He heard Keith's pen hit the desk again.

“What?, really?.” Lance asked. Judging by the look on Keith’s face he was mentally asking Coran the same thing.

“Yes, write them and hand them to me and I’ll check them and give it the the other person. Simple.” Coran said with a smile.

It was anything but simple, if both of them didn’t feel like they were in the wrong. Well, not completely. Lance felt Keith’s glare on him and glared back. Keith sat back and stared straight forward, not even glancing at the paper in front of him.

Coran cleared his throat. “I want at least one hundred words from both of you, which isn’t much to ask. If you don’t complete this task i’ll have to keep you late, or ask you to come every weekend until it’s done.” With that statement he took a seat.

Keith snatched his pen from the desk and began hurriedly scritching at his paper. His body was tensed with anger in every inch. Lance picked his own pen up and tried to think of what to write. He’d never been too good at getting his thoughts together enough for writing.

Lance had only written two sentences when Keith shot up to give his paper to Coran. Lance lifted his head to gauge Coran's reaction. His eyes squinted further and further as he reached the end of the writing. “Son,” He said gently, handing Keith back the paper. “Do you even know what an apology is?.”

Lance snorted and clamped his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter. If looks could kill Lance would currently be dead. “Shut up!”

“Lance get back to to your paper.” He did as he was told. “Now Keith, you can’t blame it all on Lance and try and make it of like you had no part to play. It takes two to tango m’boy now off you trot back to your seat and try again.” Keith gripped the paper in his gloved hand and marched back to his seat. “There’s a good lad.”

He watched as Keith got up numerous times to hand up his paper and each time Coran would shake his head and give him another piece of paper and send him on his way. Lance couldn’t comprehend how Keith could write so quickly. When he looked back to his own paper it was full of crossed out words, even entire sentences sometimes. Each word had multiple dots overhead where he had counted them. There were also doodles everywhere.

He reread it a few times. It had taken him forty minutes but he believed he’d got it.

“Keith,” It read. “I was very angry and frustrated at you when you said that thing about my family. It’s a very sensitive topic for me. I care very deeply for my family. but this isn’t an excuse. It doesn’t matter how angry or offended I was, nobody should be subjected to physical violence because it can have serious consequences, even though I ended up being the one who got hurt but that is not the point.

I’m sorry for acting on my anger and pushing you like that. Sometimes I lose myself and act on feelings. That’s not an excuse either, I just wanted to explain it to you. All in all I’m very sorry for what I did. Admittedly I wanted to hurt you in that moment and truthfully I’m glad I didn’t seriously injure you because even though I kind of hate you I don’t wish harm on anyone. Even my worst enemy which also happens to be you, but still, i’m sorry.”

He looked the writing up and down and drew a few circles in the corner for no particular reason before he got up and handed it to Coran. He took the paper with a gentle smile and in that moment Lance was struck with the thought that Coran was a fair and kind man. The thought made him feel a little more at ease with giving him the letter.

”Good stuff, a bit harsh in places but I feel like you were honest. Maybe you could cross out that end part,” He said tapping the bit that said ‘which also happens to be you’. “But apart from that I’d say it’s fine, a little messy though, you can hand it over to Mr Kogane there.”

Lance crossed out the sentence as told and walked over to Keith’s desk. He placed it there and was shot another glare. There were a few pieces of paper filled with scrawly writing and scratched out words. His problem seemed to be that he had too many ideas rather than not enough. Lance returned to his desk.

A few minutes later Keith got up again. Coran said. “I think this is the best we’re going to get!” so this time, instead of sitting back down he handed his paper to Lance. Well he didn’t hand it, he almost threw it. As well as you can throw paper.

Lance picked up the folded paper and read it.

“To lance.” he had written it like that, without a capital. “What happened the other day was a mistake. I recognise that my comment about your relatives was superfluous and considering it’s result I should have taken it back before the situation escalated anymore that it already had. I never expected you to react the way you did which is why I apologise for the excessive force I used. I didn’t intend to hurt you physically but I was surprised when you attacked me and I acted on my reflexes.

I will wholeheartedly attempt not to intentionally offend your family in the future as I now understand that it affects you ‘deeply’ as you said. To conclude, I will try and keep my ‘offensive’ comments to myself and also try not to make you bleed again.”

Lance reread it. It didn’t feel sincere in the slightest, never mind the vaguely threatening final sentence, the entire thing felt sarcastic, and this was the best he could do. He placed the paper back on his table.

“Alright boys now that you’ve written your apology letters it’s time to say it in real life, up you get and shake hands.” Coran said.

“Sir I don’t think that’s necessary, really I got my message across pretty clearly in my letter.” Keith said.

Lance scoffed. “Yeah the message that you’re a douche-bag.” He mumbled.

“What was that!?” Keith asked, most definitely having heard what he said.

“I think it’s necessary” Coran concluded. “Up you get.”

Lance rose from his chair reluctantly. He heard Keith’s chair scrape along the ground. They walked the short distance and faced each other. “Sorry” Lance said as he proffered his hand, he didn’t want anymore trouble. Keith took it and they shook. “Sorry” He spat. It was brief and there was nothing friendly, or remorseful about it. He felt Keith’s tight grip on his hand and was a little surprised at the strength he put into it.

“That’s the ticket!” Coran said gleefully. “Now sit down again like good lads.”

Lance sat again and started at Keith’s letter to him. It even being there aggravated him. He rapped his fingers on the desk, trying to focus on that instead. A couple of minutes later, when that wasn’t working, he said; “Do you have anything else for us to do sir?.”

“No m’boy, It’s quiet time now. Regular old detention.”

Torture.

Sitting in a room with nothing to do, nothing to occupy his five-hundred-mile-an-hour mind. He bit his lip. Fuck. He tried his best to sit still but he couldn’t. The leg bouncing came first and he wasn’t even aware of it. Then finger tapping, which was louder and increasingly more annoying to those around him. He could almost feel Keith’s aura of annoyance, which wasn’t his intention but it wasn’t exactly an undesired side-effect.

“Will you stop!?” Keith hissed at him.

Lance curled his hand into a fist but found himself doing it again within five minutes. Keith’s foot started tapping then. It looked like an annoyed tap. Lance jumped when he heard a phone go off. It was Coran’s, He picked it up.

“Hello, Coran speaking!...” then he listened. “Yes, well I’m here right now I could take care of it… no, no problem…. Good luck see you Monday. Bye...”

He straightened up in his chair and turned to them. “That was the vice principal, she’s left some work she was coming in to do today and can’t make it so I told her I’d take care of it. I’m going to leave you boys here and I’ll be back to check on you soon. I’m trusting you here and any breach of that trust means we’ll be back here together next week.” He got up and headed for the door. “So that means no funny business.” He nodded to finalise his statement and left.

The silence when he left was unbearable, once again, torture. Lance stared at the clock, if this were a movie it would’ve ticked backwards. He turned his head slowly to Keith after a few minutes passed. “Can we talk, at least?, I know we don’t like each other but I’m going crazy here. I hate the quiet.”

“I don’t really like talking to you in case you couldn’t tell. Quiet’s just fine with me.” he didn’t move his head even a centimetre.

Lance flopped back into his chair and leaned his head back. He counted the tiles on the ceiling. There were fifty, five lines of ten. Six were cracked, one was a slightly different colour. ‘Holy shit’ he thought. ‘I’m gonna go crazy.’

“Dude, please.”

Keith didn’t reply. “We don’t have to be best friends I just don’t want to sit in silence for however long Principal Coran is gone for.” He didn’t reply. “I’ll just go back to tapping my fingers again I suppose.”

“No, god, anything but that please.” Keith said. “I’ll talk to you, but don’t tap your goddamn fingers, please.”

Lance smiled. “Okay. I’m going to ask you a question.” He thought for a moment about all the things he wanted to ask Keith. He settled on “What do you do for fun?.”

“I like to read” Keith replied, without a hint of emotion.

“That explains a bit, hey what does soup-per-super-flew-is mean?.”

“Superfluous.” he said. It sounded good when he said it. “It means excessive”

“Wow really?, I thought so by the sentence but I wasn’t sure. Do you know any more fancy words?.”

He thought for a moment. “Piquant is a good one.” He replied, actually looking at Lance now.

“What does that mean?”

“Yummy” He said, with what Lance thought might be a smile on his face.

“Really?” lacne said, a small part of him grew with excitement at this development. He sat up in his chair. “What’s your favourite word?.”

Without a beat he replied “Blithe.”

“That’s a nice sounding word, why’s it your favourite? And what’s it mean?.”

“Well it can mean happy or cheerful, or it could mean thoughtless and uncaring. And I don’t really know why it’s my favourite. I just like to say it and it looks nice written. It feels good to say. To me anyway...”

“Nice written huh?, how do you spell it?.” he picked up his pen and held into the paper in anticipation.

“B-L-I-T-H-E” Keith answered.

Lance followed along with an “Uh-huh” or an “mm-hmm” after each letter.

He looked over each carefully scribed letter. “It does look nice. Blithe, blithe, blithe. I like it too. You’re really smart Keith, I don’t know any of these fancy words.”

“Oh, well they’re not really that fancy, just some I picked up while reading.” He said brushing the compliment off. He seemed like he wasn’t used to getting compliments.

“No really they’re good words. You’re awesome.” Lance said. Somehow it felt good to compliment him. Maybe he didn’t hate him. “Why are you so good at fighting?” Lance asked before he even knew the question was there.

“I train a lot.” Keith said.

Lance didn’t think he wanted to elaborate on that one. “Why did you lie to Coran about the closet thing?.”

“You said it yourself, it looked like I was doing something fishy back at the janitor’s closet, he might’ve thought I was up to something.”

“Were you?”

“Was I what?.”

“Up to something?”

“No. I had some business to take care of.” He crossed his arms.

“Okay.” Lance could tell he wasn’t getting anymore out of that question.It was definitely fishy. “Why don’t you ever come to the lunchroom?, I never see you there.”

“I eat somewhere else.”

It was hard to find a question he’d answer. “Okay. well what’s your situation?, why do you have to be home at six everyday?. Are your parents really strict or something?.”

“I don’t have parents.” He stared at his desk.

Lance felt like an asshole then. “I’m-”

“Sorry?.” He said, a small silence followed that and then “It’s okay. I never knew them.”

“I shouldn’t have asked you that. I’m sorry I just never know when to stop.”

“It’s fine. It seems to be in your nature.” He sighed. Then his head turned back to face Lance “I really am sorry for hurting you. I didn’t mean to insult your family. Or to physically hurt you either.”

This time his apology seemed genuine. “That’s okay. I’m sorry for attacking you in the first place, I can be very heavy if I want to.” He laughed. “I was really surprised when you blocked my punch. I thought it only happened in movies.”

“I was surprised when you tackled me. I thought it only happened in football.” Keith laughed.

Lance stopped. He didn’t stop doing anything in particular, his entire world just froze. He was suddenly aware. Keith’s face was beautiful. His eye’s were sharp yet gentle. And the way his mouth curled to form a smile while he laughed. It made Lance’s heart sing. He gripped the table. “Yeah.” was his impressive response.

His world began again as the door clicked open and Coran came in. He peered around the room. “Everything looks in order here boys. I’m very happy you didn’t mess anything up while I was gone.” He smiled widely. “You can go ahead and go home now, I think you’ve been punished enough for today.”

“Really?.” Lance asked.

“Yes really, off you go before I change my mind.” Coran said, waving them off. The pair grabbed their bags and hurried out the door.

The hallways felt different when Keith was walking next to him. They didn’t really feel like a wasteland, or an apocalyptic death-zone, more like a scene out of ‘the breakfast club’. It felt weirdly good. “I’ll see you Monday won’t I Keith?” Lance said as they made it to the front door.

Keith had stopped in his tracks. Lance saw what he was looking at. It was a boy. A tall boy, the boy from the other day. He was standing at the gates looking very surly “I have to go now.” he rushed off to see this boy. He didn’t seem particularly happy about it either. Once he reached him, the tall boy guided him forward with his hand on Keith’s back and Lance thought he saw the boy shoot daggers at him.

He shook his head. Things with Keith seemed to get stranger and stranger by the day. He hoped he would see Keith on Monday, and that he’d talk to him. And with that thought, he headed home.

 


	5. Just Listen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was very tough for me to edit bc I kinda started to hate it??.... well whatever I hope you guys enjoy!.

“I’m telling you Hunk, he’s not that bad. he’s actually quite nice.” Lance said. He was laying on the end of Hunk’s bed, half watching the comedy movie on in the background and half talking to Hunk. At this point it was mostly talking to Hunk. His mother let him go out on sunday because after she found out he’d been let out early for good behaviour she’d forgiven him. As long as no more fighting happened. “He apologised to me. With real feelings too.”

“Wow real feelings!. What a guy what a man!, america’s greatest. Is giving you bruises part of his new how to be a great guy ten step plan?, huh?.” Hunk said, dismissing Lance’s explanations. 

“To be fair Hunk, It was me who started the fight.”

“I’m sure.” Hunk replied, not convinced.

“Did you know he was an orphan?.” Lance said, with the hushed tone of someone who wasn't sure what they were saying should be spoken aloud.

“Everyone knows that.” He said, chucking a piece of popcorn in his mouth like what he’d just said didn’t seriously change the entire situation.

“Hunk. Dude. What the fuck?!.” Lance rolled over and stared at Hunk. “How would I know that! Dude why were you holding out on me??. I asked you so many questions and you didn’t think you should mention he’s an ORPHAN” Lance leaned up to Hunk’s face.

“Dude back up” He said, pushing Lance back. “I didn’t really think about it… everyone just sort of knows.”

“Hunk. Listen. You don’t understand. I asked him if his parent’s were strict and he said, ‘I don’t have any parents’... You could’ve helped me avoid that entire situation. I felt like an absolute asshole.”

“Did you really ask him that?, Really?.” Hunk asked. “Wow.”

“Yeah I did” Lance replied, face-palming. “AH, I’m an idiot!”

“You’re not an idiot Lance, How were you supposed to know?” Hunk said, patting him on the shoulder.

“You’re right… and he didn’t seem too bothered by the question either. ” Lance sat up. “He wouldn't tell me why he can fight well, or what his situation is or where he eats lunch… he just said he eats somewhere else… maybe he eats with friends in a classroom or something.”

“Lance, Keith doesn’t have friends.” Hunk said, like it was a common fact.

“What?” 

“He doesn’t have friends.”

“Of course he does, everyone has friends…” Lance said, sounding unsure in his own reply. He thought about the boy he’d seen him with. But they didn’t act like friends. There must be someone else.

“No he doesn’t. Think about it. Have you ever seen him with anyone?, or talk to anyone for that matter?. No, you haven’t because people don’t like him, they hear about his history and that’s it they don’t speak to him.” Hunk said. His voice lowered as he said it, probably realising how sad it sounded.

Lance thought about Keith all alone at lunch times. Eating on his own. In silence. He felt a little sad. “Can we make him our friend Hunk?.”

“What?. No. No no no. No!.” Hunk said putting his hands up and waving in protest at the mere suggestion.

“But you said it!, he has no friends, don’t you think that’s a little lonely?, wouldn’t you be upset if you didn’t have any friends?. No one to sit with at lunch. No one to tell how you did on a test or to help with your homework-”

“Jeez, alright, stop. I’m not heartless…” Hunk shook his head. “Now I feel all depressed... Do you even think he wants to be our friend though?.”

“Who wouldn’t want to be my friend?” Lance said, wiggling his eyebrows at Hunk, who gave him a face that said ‘Are you serious??.’ Lance let out of breath. “I don’t know, to be honest. But I think he’d appreciate us even trying.”

“Okay Lance… we’ll try, but I’m sure I’ll be delivering you an ‘I told you so’ soon enough. Now can we drop the Keith subject for now?.” Hunk said turning back to his movie.

“Yeah yeah.” They could drop the subject in conversation but Lance was sure his mind wouldn’t drop that subject anytime soon.

They arrived at school the next morning full of good intentions, and on Lance’s part excitement and on Hunks; dread.

“He wasn’t on the bus Lance, maybe he won’t be at school today.” Hunk said hopefully.

“I doubt it. He probably just missed it. We’ll see him later…” Lance almost jumped when he had an idea. He placed his hand on Hunk’s stomach “Hunk, you know what!?.”

“Nooo. what?” Hunk asked with a grimace, removing Lance’s hand from his person.

“We should find him at lunch and ask him to sit with us!” Lance said, his entire face beaming with enthusiasm for the idea. “Oh yeah, I’m great, go me!.”

“Yeah, alright buddy calm down a tad. We don’t even know if he wants to be friends with us yet. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

But Lance wasn’t listening anymore, his mind was racing now. When he saw Keith in his first class he almost couldn’t help talking to him but he wanted to save it for lunch. So he satisfied himself by sending occasional glances his way. His leg was also bouncing five hundred times quicker than usual. He was on edge until lunch, but he got there eventually. However when he swung around to talk to Keith; he was gone.

He looked around a few times, thinking he might’ve missed him. He wasn’t in sight. He stopped a kid next to him. “Hey did you see where Keith went?.”

“Keith Kogane?.” The girl wrinkled her nose when Lance nodded. “No. He probably went off to the smokers corner…” 

The way she said it made it seem like it was an awful place. Lance was interested. “Where’s that?.” He asked, tilting his head in an almost puppy-like way.

“Outside by the boiler. It smells like death so teachers don’t like to go out there.” She shifted her bag on her shoulders and left. 

Lance met Hunk outside of the classroom. “I didn’t catch him. I was distracted. A girl said he’s probably out by the smokers area.”

Hunk cringed. “Nope. No. We’re not going there. How bout we catch him after school, bud?.”

“I’m sure we could find it easy!.” Lance said, shrugging.

“Lance, please no.”

“C’mon. If we don’t find him there I’ll wait until after school ‘kay?” he said

“Fine.”

He led the way outside, ducking and dodging through the goings on and ignoring Hunk’s complaints. The place itself was rather easy to find, the girl’s directions had been easy to follow, but as well as her directions being correct so was her description of the smell. It was like someone had poured two entire vats of milk there around twenty years ago, along with a couple thousand rotting eggs. Also, naturally, it reeked of smoke. He pinched his nose.

“Hey.” He said to a greasy haired boy, who was leaning against the wall, notably the only person breathing normally. “Was Keith here?.”

“The Kogane kid?.”

“Yeah! Him.” Lance said, excited that this person knew him.

“Nah, He couldn’t take the smell.” He laughed. “I’m the only one that can. I’ve got anosmia, can’t smell anything.”

“Oh that’s cool I didn’t know that was a thing.”

“Yeah not many people do.” The kid replied, looking bored but also low-key proud of his defect.

“Lance. Could you get back to the point maybe.” Hunk’s eyes were watering and he looked as if he might puke any second.

“Oh sorry, was Keith here earlier?. Do you know where he went?.”

“Nope.” He replied, smushing his cigarette into the floor.

“Well… thanks, I guess” Lance said, before he nearly bolted out of there, Hunk at his side. “She wasn’t joking about that smell.” Lance said, trying to shake off his disappointment at not finding Keith there. 

Lance sloped back to the lunchroom, unable to shake the sad thought that it looked more and more likely that Keith had no friends. Lance tried to listen to what Hunk was saying but his mind kept going off on (Usually Keith orientated) tangents. He had his head resting on the cool table and he was picking at a piece of plastic that stuck out. “You will come and find him with me after school right?. Promise?.”

Hunk swallowed the piece off apple he was chewing. “Yeah I said I would right?.” He sighed and put down his apple. “Look, Lance, I won’t deny that I don’t really want to interact with Keith. I mean I’ve successfully avoided him since I was a freshmen, but I’m willing to do it because I consider you my friend now. So if you say he’s a good guy then I’ll give him a chance. I’m just a little nervous about it is all.”

Lance smiled at the word ‘friend’ It made him feel warm. “Yeah I understand, thank you… I just can’t seem to leave it be y’know?.”

“Yeah Lance, I get it. We’ll talk to him after school. I Promise.” And with that he went back to his apple.

At the end of the school day Lance rushed around trying to get Hunk to move faster and get everything done so they could leave. “C’mon, C’mon!” he kept saying. “We’ll miss him again.” Lance all but dragged Hunk outside. “This way!” He declared, leading Hunk along the way he’d found Keith before. “Hurry hurry.” Hunk didn’t seem to be a ‘hurry’ sort of person but Lance was getting him to go at least a little faster than he would usually.

“There he is!” Lance said. “Keith!, Keith!” He left Hunk’s side and ran up to Keith. He couldn’t keep the smile of his face.

“What do you want this time Lance?.” Keith asked his mouth was a line and his eyes were dark.

“Oh just to talk, wait a sec my friend’s coming… Hunk!” lance called. Hunk caught up. “Keith, Hunk… Hunk, Keith.” Lance said gesturing to each hurriedly as he said their names.

“Hi!” Hunk said. Waving a little.

“Hello.” Keith said to Hunk in a monotone voice. He faced Lance. “Now what do you want?.”

“Go ahead Lance.” Hunk said, giving him a little nod of encouragement.

“We wanted to ask you to… Be our friend!. Oh and also to sit with us at lunch because I really don’t know where you go and I think eating lunch together is fun and-”

“What?.” Keith asked, shaking his head in disbelief at Lance’s rambling and making a confused face.

“Our friend, we want you as our friend.” Lance said. Smiling widely.

“No, I heard you, but why?.” He didn’t ask this forcefully but more like it was a genuine question.

“Well um, we got along well in detention and I thought maybe-”

“You thought wrong Lance.” Keith said. “ I don’t need friends and yeah I talked to you during detention but that was only so you didn’t go making that awful tapping noise again. So whatever delusion you have in your head about us being friends you can just forget about it.” Keith began to walk away, once again leaving Lance in a stunned silence. 

Lance watched as Keith start to leave and was searching his brain for something to say when Hunk stepped up.

“No, you wait you absolute ass.” Hunk put a hand on Keith’s shoulder and turned him around roughly. He gripped his t-shirt. “I’m not one to get angry but FUCK YOU!. Do you know how freaking excited he was to ask you to join us for lunch!?. You’re all he talked about all day!. I didn't even want to talk to you!, Lance convinced me, He said; ‘He’s not as bad as people think, he’s actually very nice.’ well i’m sorry Lance but it looks like your judgement was off because this dude is an ASSHOLE!.” Hunk had lifted Keith off his feet a little and at that point let go without care. Keith stumbled back, shock in his eyes. Hunk shook his head at him. “Shame on you.”

Lance watched his friend storm off and looked at Keith. The shock in his eyes had grown to encapsulate his entire face. He stared at his hands. They were shaking. “He’s right Lance.” With a voice that contradicted his shakiness. “I’m a horrible person. So why don’t you do yourself a favour and leave me alone.”

“Keith stop.” Lance said in a neutral tone. “I don’t believe you hate me at all, or Hunk for that matter. You were lying. You do want friends.”

Keith shook his head. “No. I don’t need anyone. I can-”

“Nobody wants to be alone.” Lance reasoned. “I can see through this act Keith, back in detention you laughed with me and you enjoyed it. Admit it.”

“I didn’t-” Keith was shaking his head furiously trying to convince himself of his own lie.

 

“Admit it.” Lance said, more forcefully this time. 

His face was crumpled. “Okay so I had fun whatever!-”

“No Keith not whatever!, what’s stopping us becoming friends really?.” Lance challenged, stepping closer to Keith. 

“Me!. I don’t want friends, that’s it!.” He shouted.

“No I won’t accept that shit anymore. It’s a lie, it’s all fake. Look at me Keith, what are you afraid of?.” Lance stepped even closer. He was only an arm length away.

“I’m- I don’t- I-” Lance could tell he was out of words. Out of excuses. He had to push one more time and the glass holding the truth would shatter.

“What are you so afraid of!?”

“Getting too close to you!” Keith yelled. His head snapping up to face Lance, a single tear overflowed from the pool in his right eye. His eye’s widened with the realisation of what he’d just said. He turned and started to run.

“Keith! KEITH!” Lance said as he chased after him, “Wait!” Keith progress didn't halt but Lance wasn’t going to let him get away. He watched as Keith drew away, his dark hair fluttering back. Houses and trees blurred at his side as he concentrated on Keith. He felt his lungs begin to hurt as he continued to chase, his legs were sore. They strained with each bound. It was a while before Keith began to slow down but so was Lance. He dug into whatever he had inside him. He barrelled forward and tackled Keith to the ground. Trying his best not to injure him. He scrambled up quickly onto his knees. He wrapped his arms around Keith from behind, so he couldn’t get away. They panted for a few moments. 

“Let me go…” Keith breathed. “I won’t run.”

Lance loosened his grip and Keith sat facing him. “Why?, Why are you afraid of getting close to me?.”

“Everyone.” Keith looked at him then at the ground. “All my life. Everyone has left me. My parents abandoned me when I was born... No foster family ever wanted to keep me for long.” His voice was wavering now and Lance could see the tears pouring down his face. “Ev-everyone leaves me!” He buried his face into his hands. “I...” He took a few sharp breaths “I’m worthless”

Lance couldn’t believe it. Behind everything Keith said, or did was just a scared lonely boy who thought no-one cared. How long had he gone thinking that he wasn’t worth staying with?. “Keith.” Lance said gently, taking Keith’s wrists into his hands and guiding them away from his face. “It’s okay to be afraid, but I won’t leave you, if you’re my friend I won’t let you leave, you’ll be stuck with me.”

Lance looked into Keith’s eyes. His lip quivered. “Really?.” 

Lance held onto his hand. “Yes. So can we be friends now?, please?.” Lance asked again, this time with more confidence in the answer he was about to receive.

Keith looked at Lance. “Yes.” he said, small smile on his face.

“Good.” Lance smiled, squeezing Keith’s hand.


	6. Yes, Really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this update was delayed because I didn't internet at home for TWO WEEKS (_　_|||) But i'm back and, here you go! a fresh new chapter for you!. Hope you enjoy! (＾▽＾).
> 
> Also check out the first chapter of my super depressing Fic I wrote called [The Hardest Part Of This Is Leaving You.' ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8211023/chapters/18815825)' it was inspired by the cover Twenty One Pilots did of Cancer By MCR.

Lance and Keith were outside a corner store sitting on a small red-brick wall. Keith’s eyes were slightly pink and he hadn’t said anything since his reply to Lance asking for his friendship. He was quietly sipping on a bottle of water that Lance had bought him.

“I’ll pay you back for this later.” He said in a low voice as he screwed the cap on.

“Don’t worry. It’s on me.” Lance said leaned back on the wall. “Take it as my first gift to you as a friend.”

“Okay I will. Thank you.” he squeezed the bottle in his hand. “I’m sorry you had to see me like that.”

Lance tilted his head to the side. “Like what?.”

“Crying.” he was staring in the other direction. “I didn’t want you to see me like that. It’s embarrassing.”

“Keith, you’re a human.” Lance said, craning his neck to look at Keith. “Humans cry. I cry. So don’t worry, you can cry in front of me any time you like, but let’s try to make them happy tears from here on out. Promise?” He held out his pinky and wiggled it.

Keith stuck out his finger, they entwined them and shook. “Promise.” Keith sighed and stared at the ground. “Lance?.”

“Yeah?.” 

He bit his lip and glanced up to Lance. “Does Hunk hate me?. He said he didn’t want to talk to me and all those other things- he was right but-” 

“No he was being protective and he doesn’t hate you exactly…” Keith looked worried. “That’s not what I mean… um He’s wary of you. Hunk doesn’t like danger and that’s what you meant to him. He only said all that because he knew you hurt my feelings.”

“Sorry again for all-”

Lance shook his head. “No worries dude. You don’t need to apologise to me anymore. But we should probably go talk to Hunk. He cares a lot for people. He’s a great friend.”

“That’s a good idea.”

“We could go now but don’t you have to be home for six?.” Lance said remembering their time in joint detention. It hadn’t been so long ago, only a matter of days, it felt like it was ages ago but everything was different now. a good different.

“No, not anymore, that was only for the first few days at my new foster home. My foster mom wanted me to get used to the place and to keep on eye on me for a while. “His eyebrows furrowed and he looked back at Lance. “How do you remember that anyway?.”

Lance laughed a little to cover his awkwardness. “I - um, I was curious?.” he offered.

Keith snorted. “Fair enough.”

Lance pushed himself up from the wall, the edge of the brick scuffing his hands a little. “C’mon then. Let’s go to Hunk’s” He said gesturing his head in the direction of his house. “It’s not too far.”

Lance tried his best to keep the conversation going because he knew Keith was nervous already and he didn’t need any more time to overthink what they were going to do. It was actually pretty easy to fill that time, Lance found. It was mainly because every time he got Keith to smile he got this rush of joy he couldn’t explain and that was more than enough encouragement to keep cracking jokes and telling him stories.

“Maybe this is a bad idea.” Keith said when they reached Hunk’s gate. He had already begun to back away.

“Listen.” Lance began, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Hunk isn’t a bad guy, he isn’t scary he just wanted to protect me. After all you did flat out disregard anything I said to you basically breaking my heart and shattering it into-.”

“Sor-”

“I was joking.” Lance laughed, the look of terror on Keith’s face was priceless. “In any case I’m here and I’ll defend you. Not as enthusiastically as Hunk defended me, but, you know, I think he’ll be okay once you explain.”

Keith nodded. “Okay.” He nodded again. “Yeah. I’m ready.”

Lance walked up to the door with Keith trailing behind. He knocked and they waited. “There’s no need to be nervous.” Lance whispered, not looking behind him to where he was sure a jittery Keith stood. After all, being lifted from your feet by someone is sure to have some effect on a person.

The door opened. “Lance! are you okay?,” His eye’s were wide. “I was just about to call you! I’m sorry I just rushed off but I was so angry I thought I might- Keith!?-” he said reeling back. The he frowned at Lance. “Lance, why is he here?.”

Lance stepped forward and held his arm out in front of Keith. He didn’t do it because he thought Hunk would do something, he knew he wouldn’t. He did it so Keith felt a little more comfortable, a little more safe. “It’s alright Hunk. He’s my friend now, and he wants to be yours too.”

Hunk looked confused, really confused. He shook his head rapidly. “What the hell happened between the time I left and now for you to think that Keith is still someone you want as your friend?.”

Lance could see immediately that this wasn't going to work. “Hunk can I talk to you on my own for a sec?.”

Hunk’s face went blank and he looked from Lance to Keith. “Sure, come in… but he waits outside.” Hunk jabbed his finger in Keith’s direction and then disappeared inside, leaving the door open for Lance. 

Without missing a beat Keith said; “See I told you he hates me.”

Lance turned to Keith. “You have to give him some time. Let me speak to him and I’ll see what he says. Wait here, I mean it, wait. If you’re gone then I’ll be mad. Okay?.”

Keith nodded. “Okay.” He leant on the wall and fiddled with his water bottle. Lance took a breath and went inside. He wasn’t sure what he was going to say but he wasn’t going to let Keith worry anymore. 

He went up to Hunk’s room, where he was sitting arms crossed on his bed. “Alright go on tell me why I shouldn’t hate Keith right now, huh?.” But he didn’t stop there. “After all that stuff he said to you and you were so happy all day.”

“Hunk. You don’t have to be angry for me, I forgave him and he didn’t mean any of the bad things he said anyway.”

“Oh yeah really?.” Hunk said giving Lance the ‘Are you serious right now?’ look.

“Yes, really. after you left he was all shaken up and I got him to admit that he liked spending time with me-”

“That doesn’t mean shit Lance, how can you trust him?.” Hunk retorted, he was visibly upset now.  
“It does mean something Hunk.” Lance said, his serious voice was on. “You should’ve heard him, seen him. He cried. I asked him what he was so afraid of and he said that he thought we’d abandon him like everyone else.” Lance didn’t want to tell Hunk these things without Keith’s permission, and it felt wrong to, but he thought Hunk ought to be aware before he made any more judgements.

Hunk opened his mouth to say something and closed it again. He looked at the ground, his arms uncrossing. “He said that?. Really?.”

“Mhmm…. I don’t think he’s ever had a friend ever. I think that his fear of abandonment has kept him from people since he was small. Think how lonely that must’ve been” Lance said, no longer really talking to Hunk but rather more to himself. And he thought about it. Young Keith avoiding everyone and never learning how to properly be a kid. He clenched his fist. “I’m going to be his friend Hunk.” He stated with volition.

Hunk didn’t reply at first. He was thinking about it. He turned and smiled at Lance. “Do you think he’d want one more?.” 

Lance grinned as he locked eyes with Hunk. “Yeah. I think he’d like that.”

The went outside again and Keith’s head whipped up, obvious fear in his eyes. Hunk passed Lance and wrapped his arms around Keith. Lifting him off his feet for the second time that day, but this time for a very different and good reason. He placed him back down and motioned for Lance to join the hug. They all wrapped their arms around each other and Hunk squeezed them tight. “Hunk stop!.” Lance laughed. “You’re gonna break us!” then he heard Keith laugh too, and his heart soared.

Hunk let them both down and looked at Keith. “We’re friends now okay?, but that comes with some conditions. One, you can’t pull any more of that stuff you were before and two, you gotta come play video games with us.” He said grinning.

“I think I can swing that.” Keith said smiling.

“Alright!, back upstairs!.” The trio went to Hunk’s room and sat on his bed, across from his T.V. he set up the games while Lacne once again filled the silence with his chatter. “How about we take turns playing overwatch?” 

“What’s overwatch?” Keith asked.

Lance and Hunk looked to each other and then to Keith. “You’re joking right?” 

“Um… should I know?.”

“Keith, dude, do you live under a rock?. Overwatch is like the biggest game right now, other than pokemon go of course” Lance said.

“What’s po-”

“Please don’t tell me you don’t know what pokemon go is?” 

“No?”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Do you have a phone?.”

“Yeah.” He pulled out a little Samsung and showed it to lance.

“Good. I’m about to change your world.” He took the phone from Keith and started to download the game, while doing that, he noticed that Keith didn’t have any other apps and all home and lock screens were still the default ones. He opened the camera. “C’mere.” He pulled Keith in next to him and snapped a selfie.

“What did you just do?.”

“I took a selfie of us!” he showed Keith the picture. Keith was looking at Lance and not the camera. “Eh, you’re not looking let’s do another.” He pulled Keith in again and held up the phone. “This time look at the phone.” He watched Keith through the camera and saw his surprise.

“You can see us on the screen!.” He said excitedly. Lance thought his heart might break then. Not only out of pity for how outside the bubble he seemed to be but also how damn cute his reactions were.

“Y-yeah, look.” He handed the phone to Keith. “You take it.”

He lifted the phone and smiled as he took the picture. He made an ‘i did it!’ face. “Hunk c’mere let's get one all together!.”

“Alright.” Hunk abandoned his xbox and came back over. Getting his arm behind the two boys and squishing them together.

Keith took multiple pictures with them all in it and once he was satisfied said “How do I make it my picture?”

Lance gave him a confused look. “Your picture?.” he asked.

He tapped his phone screen. “How do I make the picture I took the background one?.” He said.

Lacne took the phone from him and set it up, showing him how it was done. “What do you use your phone for anyway?” Lance asked

“As a phone… to contact my foster family.”

Lance snorted. “I s’pose that makes sense. Let’s exchange numbers. Hunk, you too.” Lance typed his number into Keith’s phone and vice versa. 

“It say’s poko- pocke-”

“Pokemon go has downloaded?.”

“Yup.”

Lance slid over next to Keith and helped him to set up his account and in a few minutes he had it set up. Lance couldn’t describe properly the feeling he got when Keith’s face lit up once he caught his first pokemon. He chose Charmander. Lance explained the mechanics of the game to Keith, and felt a little embarrassed at the rapt attention Keith was paying to him. It was strange and very new. It made him realise how much their relationship had changed in a matter of hours. All it took was some honesty and bravery, especially on Keith’s part for revealing such a deep part of himself. Lance wondered if he had ever told anyone else the same thing and he doubted it.

“Dammit.” Hunk said sighing as he placed his controller on the floor. “I’m not very good. Keith do you wanna have a go?.”

“Sure?.”

“You can choose one of the characters like this.” Hunk showed him how it worked. Unsurprisingly the first character Keith chose was reaper. Hunk and Lance shared a look when he did choose him. They watched on as Keith got used to how the character moved and how it worked. Neither of them could help but be back-seat gamers, telling Keith to do this and that but he caught on quickly and was actually very good.

They played Overwatch until the sun was going down. Keith got Player of the game more times than Lance did and they got pretty competitive. It was a warm feeling though, there wasn’t any animosity like there had been the other day during gym. It was just… fun.

There was a soft knock on the door and Hunk’s mother peeked inside. She was a homely person with a round face and rosy cheeks. “Hello boys!, would you like to stay for dinner?.”

Lance shook his head thinking he should get home. “No, thanks Mrs Garrett I think I should get home.”

“Yeah me too.” They stood up. Keith grabbed his nearly empty water bottle and they said their goodbyes.

“Get out your pokemon go.” Lance said after they shut Hunk’s door. He took out his own phone.

“Why?.” Keith asked, getting his phone out of his pocket.

“Steps, for eggs. You hatch pokemon from eggs by walking.”

“Ah right.” 

They walked along together. The sky was beginning to turn to blue and pale purples, there weren’t many clouds and the moon was visible. Lance liked those evenings. The world was almost silent, he could hear crickets, their footsteps and Keith’s soft breaths from beside him.

“What a day.” He said stretching while recollecting that day's events. He couldn’t quite believe it, how one moment, one word can change an entire situation. “So much changed today.”

“Yeah.” Keith agreed. “I thought becoming friends was much more… complicated.” 

“It’s not really, is it?. And I told you Hunk is nice, good to have him on your side. I think he’s the most loyal person I know, and i’ve only known him a few weeks.”

“Thanks for coming after me earlier.”

“No problem thanks for telling me about…..” Lance didn’t quite know what to put there. “About everything.”

Lance glanced at his phone and stopped in his tracks. “Charizard.” He said. “Charizard!”

“What’s that?”

“Rare pokemon!” he jumped into action. “We have to find it!” he started off running with a confused but willing Keith running in tow.

“Is it this way?!” Keith asked

“No idea!” Lance laughed in reply.

They kept running and Lance felt like he was there in that moment. Like running with Keith at twilight trying to find a charizard exactly the stupid teen-agery thing he was supposed to be doing right then. He felt the air rush through his lungs and he looked back at Keith who was smiling and he felt so much joy that he could yell.

His phone buzzed and Lance came to a stop. “Charizard!” He yelled. “Keith tap on him!” There they were, furiously tapping on their screens, whereas a few hours earlier, Keith was crying and afraid and now they were friends. Friends doing stupid, silly things that didn’t really matter. But it did mean something, it meant so much.

Lance caught his first and watched Keith, his tongue poking slightly out of the side of his mouth in concentration. “I caught him Lance!, I got him.” Keith said, showing Lance the screen.

“Good job buddy!, high five!” Their hands came together in a movie-like perfect high five. Lance didn’t think he could smile any wider.

After that Lance walked Keith home and told him about all the different types of social media. Keith didn’t really understand but he caught on quick to things. They got to Keith’s house too fast for Lance’s liking. 

“See you tomorrow Keith. Make sure you come and eat with us at lunch.” Lance said. “No disappearing acts.”

“I’ll be there. I promise.” Keith called as he walked up to his door.

Lance gripped the cold, black-painted metal gate and watched Keith go. They gave each other a wave before Keith went inside. Lance lingered a moment before he turned for home. Tomorrow was going to be good.

“Lance!.” His mother called as he got inside. “¿Dónde estabas tú?, you’re late, I was worried.”

“Lo siento Mamá!, I made a new friend and we went to Hunk’s house to play games, I forgot to text you.”

She shook her head and tutted. “Don’t let it happen again!, your dinner’s cold, reheat it in the microwave. You didn’t do any homework at your friend's house did you?.”

Lance ducked out of the room calling back. “I’ll get it done now!.”

“You better!, no friends house before homework anymore.” she warned, she had her ‘mom-voice’ on , she meant business.

Later that night Lance lay on his bed, unable to keep the smile off his face. He rolled around under the covers pressing his hands into his face. He’d done it. He’d gotten Keith Kogane to be his friend.


	7. Great Expectations.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys enjoy this chapter because after this things are gonna start getting angsty-er...

Lance strolled into his English class on Monday with a smile spread across his face. He had woken up that day in a really good mood. He took his seat across from Hunk and Keith joined them, his seat now the one in front of Lance.

Allura came in with a pile of paper and a smile on her face. She placed the paper on the desk and stood up straight, holding her hands in front of her chest. “Good morning everyone.” She said.

“Morning.” The class called back to her in varying levels of excitement.

“I’m very excited to tell you all what we're going to be doing for the next week.” she said. She gave a pause for dramatic effect and then said. “Group projects!.” There was a smattering of groans and a few excited noises. “You’ll be working in pairs so go ahead and sort that out amongst yourselves.”

Hunk and Lance exchanged a look. “I’ll pair up with my friend Silas. I was talking to him the other day, he seems cool. You go with Keith.” He got up from his seat and went over to his very blond friend Silas.

“So, Keith. You and me?.” Lance said with a grin.

“Yup.” Keith replied, looking excited.

After the pairs were decided Allura started to speak again. “The project is about any famous celebrity, sportsperson, author, anyone. You two, in your pairs, must create a presentation and give it in front of the class on Friday. I’ll give you a sheet with more detailed instruction in one minute. Everyone understand?.”

There was a bunch of questions and Allura answered them but the whole time Lance felt like she was glancing at him. It was confirmed when she was finished speaking and beckoned him up to her. “I need to have a word.” She said, bringing him outside the door.

He was confused as to what brought this on and couldn’t help but frown at her. What had he done?.

“Um… Lance, I couldn’t help but notice that you were sitting by Keith in there by any chance is he your partner for this project?.” She asked with a very worried look on her face.

“Yes?.” Lance said, feeling there was more to what she was saying.

“I can’t really say that I agree with that choice…. Didn’t we decide that it would be best for you to avoid him?.”

Lance let out a small laugh when he realised what she was getting at. “No, miss, we’re friends now. I fixed it.”

“Oh!. Well… good I suppose.” She said, the worried look disappearing from her face. “That’s alright then, sorry I interrupted your work. We’d better go back in.”

They went back into the room and Lance took his seat again. “What was that about?.” Keith asked. “Are you in some kind of trouble?”

“No no.” He shook his head. “She was just worried we might start fighting again.”

“Oh.” Keith said. “Right.”

“So who do you want to do the project on?.” Lance asked, trying to move the subject onto something more neutral.

“Uh…. I dunno maybe Charles Dickens.” Keith offered. “I really like Great expectations by him.” He frowned and looked up. “But I don’t know you should probably decide. I’m not good with pop culture.”

Lance felt his heart glow at the look Keith had been making while trying his to come up with something people would like. He wanted to see that expression again. “Definitely Charles Dickens. I agree. Good idea.”

“Oh” Keith said, looking bashful. “I didn’t think you’d like that idea.”

  
“No. yes. He’ll be good to do a project on. He’s the Oliver Twist dude right?.” Lance said, sure but also unsure.

“Have you never read Great Expectations?.” Keith asked, his eyes wide. “It’s really good. I’ve had the book since I was little and there’s this adaption that the BBC did of it back in two thousand and eleven and it’s my favourite one, though the two thousand and twelve movie was quite good too and the older-” Keith stopped himself, suddenly realised he’d been rambling and said. “Sorry. I got carried away.”

“No.” Lance, who had been thoroughly enjoying watching Keith talk about a passion of his so animatedly, said. “It’s fine. I probably should read it. Sounds like it might be very good.”

“Oh, it is” Keith said. “I can lend you my copy if you like. I have it in my bag actually, I was rereading it again but I know it practically of by heart by now…” he rifled through his bag and placed on the table his book. It was emerald green, or was as it was very faded apart from some patches. It was a hardcover and had gold lettering on the side, reading ‘Great expectations’. The corners of the book were scuffed and the pages were yellowing. Keith obviously loved this book a great deal.

The thing that put Lance of was the size of the book. He’d never read a book with over one hundred pages and this book had to have at least four hundred. He had to try though. “I’ll take good care of it.” Lance said, slipping the book into his bag.

“I hope you enjoy it!.” Keith said. Lance could hear the exclamation mark in his voice. He had to try.

They got a started on their project by Keith listing out facts he knew about Charles Dickens. which turned out to be quite a lot and everything they needed, all that was really left was to put those facts into a presentation.

“We’ll’ do it in the library after school, how does that sound?.” Lance asked.

“Sounds good to me.”

They met in the schools library and booted up one of the old PC’s. “I’ll do this part because you pretty much did all of the research.”

“It wasn’t any work though. I knew all of it already so I should help-”

“Nah, you can help with the design and stuff but I’d feel bad if you did too much work. Then it wouldn’t really be a group project would it?.”

“I guess not.”

They set to work. Making a powerpoint presentation could hardly be described as fun but this time Lance found that it was. They were shushed a few times and warned once by the moody looking Librarian who had a pinched face and grey hair pulled back so tight Lance thought it must be painful.

Lance was just in one of those moods where the stupidest things were funny for no reason and laughter came out in spurts after trying to hold it in. It made it worse that Keith was laughing in much the way he was and that just made him all the happier.

“That.. aboouuut does it.” Lance said as he scrolled through the presentation one more time. They compared their presentation to the requirements Allura had printed on the sheet. It seemed to be okay. “I think we did a good job. Up high, buddy.”

Keith gave him a high-five that was slightly too loud. “SSH.” The librarian glared at them. Lance and Keith shared a look. Lance clamped a hand over his mouth so he wouldn’t burst into laughter. He didn’t look at Keith for a while either because he knew his resolve would break.They packed up their things hurriedly and rushed out of the room. The second the doors swung shut behind them they fell into peals of laughter. “I didn’t think you could have so much fun making a powerpoint presentation, I thought they were always boring.” Keith said.

“I suppose that really depends on who you make it with.” Lance said, wiping the beginnings of a happy tear from his eye. “Because i’ve never had that much fun making a freaking powerpoint before.”

Keith looked very happy to hear that.

Lance led the way out and they began to walk home together. “You got your pokemon go out?.” Lance asked as he took his phone from his pocket.

“Yup.” Keith waved his phone at Lance. “I caught a really cool pokemon yesterday, it was called ghastly and I googled it and it’s two bigger ones are awesome as well.”

Lance smiled at the terminology he used ‘bigger ones’ that was almost illegally cute. “Yeah haunter and Gengar are cool. I really want a Gengar but they’re like super rare and it’ll be ages before I can get it by evolving.”

“Evolutions!” Keith exclaimed “I knew it began with and ‘e’ I forgot the word”

“You should’ve just asked me.” Lance said.

“I thought you might think I was stupid for forgetting…”

“Keith you literally hadn’t even heard of pokemon go until like a week ago, why would I think you were stupid?.”

“I guess I was just being paranoid.”

“No worries” Lance said. He stretched back and crossed, his arms behind his head. They parted ways soon after that and when Lance got home he went straight up to his room to read ‘great Expectations.’

He pulled the book out of his bag and put it on his lap. It had a sizeable weight to it and that made Lance even more apprehensive. He opened it up and stared at the first page. “Shit.” he said. The writing was tiny. By the time he’d finished the first paragraph he’d already been distracted twice. He put the book to the side. This wasn’t going to happen any time soon. It would take him at least a year to read that book all the way through. He put it back in his bag, he’d tell Keith tomorrow that it wasn’t happening.He stared at his bag and thought about how excited Keith had been when he was interested in reading it. He took it out and tried again. “Nope. no.” Reading just wasn’t for him.

He sat next to Keith the next day at lunch and placed the book on the table. “Did you finish it already?.” Keith asked, looking both surprised and impressed. Lance felt bad.

“No. I don’t think I can read it.” Lance admitted, not wanting to look at Keith. “It’d take me way too long.”

“How long is too long though?.” Keith asked.

“Probably like a year.” Lance said, feeling a sting of embarrassment.

“I really don’t mind if you borrow it for that long… but if you don’t want to that’s fine too.” Keith said, Lance looked up at him and he didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“Well, i’d like to try.” Lance said. “But It’s your favourite book… aren’t you worried I’ll ruin it?”

“No. Not really. it wouldn’t matter that much if you did. I like the book but I can get one anywhere. I bought that at a thrift shop when I was ten.” Keith said, sliding the book towards Lance. “I’d rather you didn’t ruin it but if you do I don’t care. It’s the story I love not the pages it’s printed on.”

Lance took the book into his hands and smiled at Keith. “Okay then. I’ll read it. Even if it does take me a year.”

“Good.” Keith said, the corners of his lips turned up slightly. “You should watch the movie maybe, to get the story in your head before you watch it.”

“Good idea actually why don’t-”

“Hey guys.” Hunk said as he placed his tray as food on their table and sat down. “That Line was ridiculously long today, I nearly missed out on pizza.” He picked up a slice and gazed at it a moment before he began to eat it.

“Hey Hunk, I was just about to say you two should come over to my house and watch ‘Great Expectations’ with me tonight.”

“I would but me and Silas are gonna work on our project tonight, sorry man.” He said. “We’re doing Gordan Ramsey.”

“That’s a great one.” Lance laughed.

“I’ll go.” Keith said.

“Okay then.” Lance said, looking at Hunk for some sort of encouragement. He’d never hung out with Keith alone before and wasn’t sure he’d know how to act. Hunk smiled and nodded. “Good.”

That was how Lance found himself sat on his bed with Keith watching ‘Great Expectations’ on his smart TV. The glow of the screen was the only light in his room as it being autumn meant that the sun had already gone down by the time they started watching it.

His house was quiet because his mother was out which only succeeded in amplifying the nervousness he was already feeling. He looked over at Keith during the movie and noticed his lips were moving as if he was speaking. He was saying the words along with the actors. Lance had to look away because he thought his heart might explode.

Lance occasionally glanced at the text Hunk had sent him earlier. He had voiced his concerns to Hunk and Hunk had replied with ‘You’ll be fine. It’s just Keith.’. That message had halted his worried. It was just Keith. Though he did have to peek at it every once in awhile to remind himself.

“That was really good.” Lance said when it ended, he reached from his bed and clicked the light on. “It was awesome how everything started to come together like that at the end. But I don’t really like how he went to see Estella at the end. I didn’t like her. It was kinda Miss Havisham's fault but like c’mon?.”

Keith’s eyes went wide and Lance thought he might’ve said something bad until Keith said; “I know right!?. I think he should’ve ended up with Herbert. They obviously had feelings for echother and don’t even get me started on chapter fifty.” He sighed. “I just wished the story went differently...”

“Dude I bet there’s fanfics that they get together in.” Lance said offhandedly.

“Fanfics?.”

“Fanfics. Fanfiction.” Keith didn’t look any less confused. Lance sat up. “You don’t know what fanfiction is do you Keith?.”

He shook his head.

“Fucking sit back and get ready I’m about to change your world. Again.” Lance hadn’t meant it literally but Keith sat back and got ready. “So when you ship two people-” He stopped himself realising he probably didn’t know what that meant either. “For example you ship Pip and Herbert so you go and write a story about how they get together, or them in an alternate universe where one of them works at a coffee shop. Then you post it to tumblr or AO3 or fanfiction.net to share it with other people that ship it.”

Keith’s eye’s widened. “Do you think there’s fanfiction of them on one of those websites already?.”

“I’m sure of it. There’s fanfiction of pretty much everything. Just be careful though, some of those writers can get pretty… well you’ll see.”

“I think I might go home and start reading some of this fanfiction.” Keith said, collecting his things. Lance didn’t think He’d ever seen Keith move as fast as he did then.

“I’ll walk you home.” Lance said, grabbing his jacket.

“You don’t have to, I’ll be fine.”

“I want to.” Lance replied, heading out of his room before Keith could protest again.

They walked over to Keith’s house and Lance found that he began to walk faster and faster obviously eager to get home. Introducing Keith to things was fun. When they got to Keith's gate Lance stopped walking and Keith went in. “I’m sorry to rush off like this I just-”

Lance waved his apologies off “Keith, don’t worry about it just go enjoy the fanfiction. Maybe write some of your own.” He said. “Bye!.”

“Bye!.”

Lance watched as Keith headed inside then he saw a flash of light from a window upstairs. A curtain had been opened and a figure stood at the window. Lance squinted, but before he could get a second look the curtain was shut again. “Weird.” He said to himself.

On his way back he heard his phone buzz and took it from his pocket, thinking it was a Pokemon. It was actually Keith.

**Keith:** what was that website called again???.

Lance grinned. He loved introducing Keith to new things.

 

 


	8. Nightmares and daydreams.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so from here on out it's going to get a little darker and I'll probably have to up the rating!, just to warn you.

Lance felt his skin burn. Everything around him glowed. It was so bright he almost couldn’t see. Vivid yellows and oranges glared at his blurred eyes. They stung but he had to keep them open. His lungs were screaming for fresh air. They were clogged with thick, black smoke. His brain was frazzled. He was so confused. “Lance!?” He heard a voice wail. A familiar voice. A young voice. He reached out but his skin was burned. Dark hands came from behind him and dragged him back. He struggled at their pull, but the strong hands had him everywhere. Hands on his face, his arms his legs. He tried to kick. He screamed. And tried to reach out. There were nails digging into the skin on his hand. He looked down. A small hand he knew was there. “Lance,” There were more voices now. He knew them all. “Lance!, LANCE!, _LANCE!_.”

Lance woke up and sat bolt upright. He clutched his chest and tried to breath in. He felt like he’d fallen flat on his chest. He heard the sickening noise you made when you tried desperately to breath in but couldn’t. He gasped painfully and took a breath. A second later he threw up on the floor next to him. He panted. Hot tears flooded down his face. He was sweating. He let himself cry it out, rocking back and forth gently and gripping his knees.

It took him a few minutes before he had grounded himself. That’s when he realised he’d wet the bed. He felt shame then, though it hadn’t been the first time in the past two years that it’d happened. He didn’t usually throw up though.

He peeled his covers off and slid out of bed. He was careful not to step in his vomit and bit his lip to try and force himself not to cry. He hated that nightmare. He shoved the thought to the back of his mind, it never did him any good to dwell on them. He stripped his bed hurriedly, his body cold with sweat. He took off his boxers and added them to his pile of soiled sheets. He put on a new pair. He was going about it all clinically. He didn’t want to process any feeling right then, or he knew he’d break down again.

He bundled everything in his arms and took it downstairs. He crept, fearing each step would make too much noise. His mother hadn’t found out about his nightmares yet and he wasn't about to let her. He shoved it all into his washing machine and turned it on. The first time he’d used a washing machine was also the first time he’d had a nightmare. He could remember the fear and humiliation he’d felt that night. He grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around himself.

He got a roll of paper towels and headed back upstairs. He started to clean the mess he’d made. He was grateful, at least, that he didn’t have carpet in his bedroom. He went back down and crouched next to the washing machine, waiting for it to finish. He was nodding back to sleep when it beeped. He repeated the process with the dryer. He was so tired. Light began to stream in through the windows before he was done. He tiptoed back upstairs and made his bed again, before collapsing into it.

It felt like seconds later when his alarm began to screech. He groaned. He dressed sluggishly and got breakfast slowly. His mother hadn’t woken up yet. She seemed to be waking up later and later everyday. He left the house, skipping breakfast and walked slowly to the bus stop. His head hurt from tiredness.

He got on the bus and saw Keith and Hunk sat together. It had been a few weeks since they’d done their project which turned out very well and got them both a B+. “Hey Lance!.” Keith called. He looked chipper.

“What’s got you all hyper today?.” he asked yawning and blinking. He sat in front of them.

“Nothing really.” Keith said, with a smile that suggested otherwise.

“No, Keith-” Hunk laughed. Lance’s mind started to drift back to last night. He clenched his jaw. ‘Focus. Focus. Focus.’ he repeated in his mind.

“Lance!,” Keith said, trying to get his attention.

“What- yeah?.”

Hunk gave him a swift little slap on the head.“Keith was trying to say something, don’t ignore him!.”

“It’s fine it doesn’t matter-” Keith said shaking his head.

“Show him!” Hunk pulled Keith’s arm up. He was holding his phone.

“I hatched a lapras yesterday!” Keith announced.

“Really?,” he looked at Keith’s phone. “Wow.” he didn’t put as much enthusiasm into it as he would’ve liked but he was tired. Keith looked a bit disappointed in his reaction and he felt awful then.

He swallowed. “I can’t be-LIEVE you got a lapras before me.” Lance continued, putting all his energy into it now. He shook his head. Keith’s proud appearance returned then.

Keith shrugged his shoulders. “Git gud.”

Hunk and Lance shared a look. “Did you just meme!?” Lance asked his eyes wide he pointed at Keith. “He just memed!.... I can’t believe I’d live to see the day that Keith Kogane memed on me, i’m proud.”

“My son!” Hunk said, putting his hand on the side of his face.”you’ve grown so much!.”

Lance chuckled. Then in the middle of his laughter his smile shrunk into nothing. He should’ve stayed at home.

He was happy to get to school that day, just so he had an excuse to be quiet. Even during lunch he spent as much time as he could in the toilets. He was so exhausted. English was the last class that day and he felt his eyes slowly droop until eventually, he was asleep.

“Lance!.” He heard a voice hiss.

He sat up his head whirring. “Wha-” Keith widened his eyes at him and jerked his head to the top of the class. The short nap hadn’t done much against his tiredness, it may have made it even worse.

“Wake up man! Allura’s gonna notice.” He checked the front of the room then held his hand out to Lance. “Take this!”

Keith pressed a small object into Lance’s hand.  He opened his hand. It was a sweet. A fruit pastille. A purple one. He bit his lip. Why now?, where had he gotten this?. Any other day and he’d be able to get through this easy. He felt his hand begin to shake. He yelled at himself internally to calm down but it was no use. He started to hyperventilate. He felt his fingers go floppy and the sweet dropped from his hand.

He had to run.

He got up and shoved his chair and bolted towards the door. He didn’t know where he was going, just that he had to get out. His mind was racing.

“Lance!, _Lance!_ ”

He burst through some double doors and out into the open. He kept running. “Lance!”

“No!” he yelled, it was the voice again. It had invaded the day, the light, his safe space. “I’m sorry, i’m sorry.” he gasped between breaths. He felt himself slow down and his knees give out. He felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head “Luci-?, Keith?.”

Keiths was speaking to him but his ears weren't working. He shook his head. “I’m sor-” his voice drifted off and so did his mind. He faded into darkness.

His eyes opened slowly. He blinked a few times. The room he was in was one he didn’t know. It was small and dark apart from an orangey artificial  light streaming in from the right. He looked around, his mother was sleeping in a chair beside him. She looked overworked and overtired, her hair was pinned back tightly. He wondered why. He could hear soft beeping from next to him. ‘Ah’ he thought. ‘I’m in a hospital’.

“Wait!?” Lance said aloud, his brain processing what had happened. He put his hand to his face and while doing so noticed he was connected to a drip. “Fuck.” he muttered. How on earth was he going to explain this to everyone. “Mierda.” he racked his brain for something to say to them. He’d say he was up all night yesterday or something. Best to not make it too complicated, his mother would understand anyway.

 

“Lance!, Mi hijo!” She got up from her seat and wrapped her arms around him. “Gracias a Dios!, Mi hijo. I was worried.” she nuzzled into him and placed kisses on his cheeks. She went for the door then to call a doctor and Lance just felt plain shitty. She didn’t need this too. It was nearly december. Nearly christmas.

She snapped on the light as she came rushing in with a doctor. It was an indian woman with her hair tied in a clean bun. She asked him lots of questions and eventually turned to his mother and said. “I  think this is a stress induced faint. He needs to rest and if the problem continues he may need to go on medication but i’d like to avoid that route if possible especially because of the medication he’s already on. We’re going to keep him overnight and he can be discharged from eight o’clock on.” She smiled at Lacne. “I’ll take you off this drip too, no need for it anymore.” She took out the line and had him hold a cotton wool ball to his hand. “You are a strong young man, try to take it easy now.”

“I will, Thank you.” he said to her.

“No problem.”

Once the door had shut behind her,  his mother sat down. “What happened?.” she asked, taking his hand into hers. “That chico, Keith he said you just got up and ran away. Was it because of-?” She leaned forward, her eyes widening in suggestion. He knew what she was getting at.

“Si Mamá.” he said, with no intention of lying to her. “Lo siento.”

“It is okay mi hijo… I understand. I have had those moments too.” She pressed a kiss onto his hand, tears welling in her dark eyes. “Your friends, they have been waiting outside since you got here, I told them ‘go home!, you poor mothers!’ but they say ‘we’ll wait’. Will I send them in?.”

Lance nodded. He was ready.  She kissed him on the forehead and gave a small wave before leaving.

He grabbed a fistful of the cotton bedsheets and didn’t let go. Keith came in first, he peeked in and then when his gaze met Lance’s he ran over. “I’m sorry Lance I didn't mean to upset you earlier, I don’t know what I did but I’m sorry-”

Lance smiled gently. “It’s okay Keith, it’s not your fault.”

Hunk came in then, carrying a half eaten chocolate bar. “Stress eating.” He said, shrugging. “How’re you feeling buddy?.”

“A lot better than earlier.”

“See, Keith i told you he’d be fine.” Hunk said, giving Keith a strong pat on the back.

“Hunk you never said that, you were right there worrying with me.”

“Lance! How’re you feeling-”

“Don’t change the subject.”

Lance spurted out laughter at the whole situation. He’d been over thinking the entire thing. These two boys were his friends, they wouldn’t care if he wasn’t ready to tell them what had truly happened. “I love you guys.” He said, wiping a laughter tear from his eye. “Thanks for cheering me up.”

“Uh… no problem.” Hunk said. “So, are you gonna tell us why you ran off earlier?.”

“No.” He said, shaking his head. “I’m not.” He looked at the pair of very confused faces he’d just created.

“Why not?.” Keith asked, perplexed.

“I’m not ready.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Today showed me that. I’m not strong enough yet. Please try not to worry about me though, my mom knows whats up.”

Hunk took a deep breath and blew it from his nose. “Okay.”

Keith looked at Hunk then to Lance. “But, are you sure you’re alright?. You won’t end up in hospital again, right?.”

“No. well I can’t say for sure no, but I don’t think so…” Lance grinned at Keith’s face. “Just no more fruit pastilles please.” He was rested now and the thought of them didn’t affect him much.

“Okay.” Keith said, looking more confused now than ever.

Hunk patted Lance on the shoulder. “I hope you feel able tell us in the future. Whatever it is that you’re hiding”

“Yeah… me too.” They held a look.

“I better go. I told my mom i’d be home at eight and it's nearly nine but I wanted to wait till you woke up.”

“Yeah you should probably go before your mom worries, thanks for waiting.”

“No problem. Keith you want a ride home?.”

“No. I wanna stay for a while, if that’s okay with you Lance?.”

“Won’t your family be worried too?.”

“I uh, i told them i was staying at your house.”

Lance laughed. “Okay then stay here, but don’t let my mom figure out you lied or we’ll both be in trouble.”

“Bye guys!.” Hunk called as he left.

“Bye!.” They said in unison.

His mother came back in. “Your friend Hunk has gone, he said goodbye to me. He’s such a lovely boy. Muy grande”

“Mamá, you should go home.”  he said. Her face was pale and there were bags under her eyes, it didn’t seem like she’d been sleeping well lately and a night at the hospital wouldn’t be a could thing for her.

“Are you sure?, I could stay. I bought a bag of your things, some money and ” She asked her eyebrows furrowed. She glanced at Keith then to Lance. “Oh, I see…he’s your-,  I think i will go home.” her voice had a suggestive lilt to it.

“Mamá no!, he’s not.. I didn’t!-” She waved at him, smirked and ducked out. Keith was staring at him.  He buried his face into his hands and felt his face go red.

“What was that about?. Why are you hiding your face?.”

“She thought you were my boyfriend.” He mumbled, his face growing even hotter.

“What?.”

“She thought you were my boyfriend.” he said a little more clearly this time.

“Oh.” There was a pause. “OH”

Lance peeked through his fingers at Keith’s face which was now red too. He was fiddling with the strap on his glove.

“We can just pretend it didn’t happen?.” Lance offered, lowering his hands.

“Yeah, um… yes.” Keith said. “I’m gonna go get a sandwich across the street you want one?” He asked standing up, still avoiding eye contact.

“Yeah can I get a ham and cheese? And a coke?. But wait, how are you gonna get back in after?, haven’t visiting hours already ended?.”

“I have my ways.” Keith said shooting Lance a wink and taking off.

Then Lance had a thought that betrayed him. The thought being; ‘That’s kinda hot.’ He distracted himself from the thought by looking through the things his mother had left him. She’d left his phone and charger, his nintendo and a pile of games, a book (he didn’t bother to read the title, he knew he wouldn’t read it.), a few pairs of pajama pants, a fifty dollar note and his medication. He took his Intuniv pill every morning for his adhd. Taking medication never bothered him, he actually felt positively about it. Over the years they’d tried him on many different drugs and this seemed to work best and he found that that it worked very well.

He got out of his bed and changed from his jeans into some neglected pyjama pants. He didn’t know why he liked sleeping in his boxers but he’d been doing it for years. He couldn’t do that today though if Keith was sticking around.

It wasn’t too long before Keith returned with a bag full of food. He raised it triumphantly as he walked in. “I told you I have my ways.” He placed the bag. on Lance’s hospital bed and began to empty it. “Here’s yours and this one’s mine. I got you some water as well as your coke encase you’re thirsty after, I also got some pringles. ” He took out three tubes. “I didn’t know what kind you like so I got three.”

“Good going Keith, I actually like all kinds of pringles. Thanks.” He unwrapped his sandwich and  upon looking at it realised just how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten since dinner the day before. He took a big bite and relished in the taste. After that first bite he wolfed down the rest, washing it down with a few gulps of cold coke. He felt refreshed afterwards and sat back against his pillows. “Oh there’s some money in my bag-”

“No.” Keith said, swallowing a mouthful of his sandwich. “Take it as my first present to you as my friend.”

Lance smiled at that statement. “Okay, but we’re going to have to start getting each other better  presents.” Lance said, Thinking back to the bottle of water he’d bought Keith.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“There isn’t much to do in here, do you want to take turns on my nintendo?”

If an exclamation point could be an expression then that would be the expression Keith wore at that moment. “I got a nintendo the other day, I saved up my money from work!” He pulled a red nintendo 3ds out of his jacket pocket. “I got it to play pokemon.”

Keith had gotten really into pokemon since Lance introduced him to it. He could now name all 151 pokemon from the first generation even without having grown up with them.

“That’s awesome, I didn’t know you had a job!. Where do you work?.”

“I teach kids taekwondo. Part-time. Once every two weeks on saturdays.”

“Oh so that’s why you’re so skilled in the art of fighting huh?. No wonder you beat my ass before, maybe I should learn to pick my fights better.”

“Or maybe try not to pick fights?.” Keith offered.

“Hey, you can’t say much, the amount of fights I’ve heard you’ve been in is crazy, Hunk used to be scared of you before-” Lance stopped himself, seeing how uncomfortable Keith was getting. He didn’t like the past much. “Hunk isn’t afraid of you anymore-” He began panicking and trying desperately to back track.

“No, it’s okay, I had a reputation. A lot of them time people would try and fight me just to say that they could beat me. And I was….” Lance saw Keith’s knuckles whiten. “I was angry enough to _want_ to fight.” Lance watched Keith's hand spread again.  “I don’t think I want to fight anymore.”

“Mario kart?.” Lance said, trying to change the subject.

Keith nodded. “Sounds good.”

They got into it really quickly. There were (quiet) yells of “So you think you can blue shell me and just get away with it huh?.”, “Was that another red shell!?, c’mon game gods give me break!.”, “I’m winning!,” And in a less excited tone “Now you’re winning.” by the end of it Keith led Lance by four won tournaments to three.

“I think it’s time we had a pokemon battle” Keith said. “Omega ruby.”

“Alpha sapphire.” Lance replied, clicking his cartridge into his 3ds. “If you’re getting ideas about beating me at my own game you better drop them before you get disappointed.”

Keith shook his head. “Don’t even try to talk yourself up here, just because a month ago I only knew what a pikachu was doesn’t mean I can’t destroy you now.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself newbie.”

“We’ll see who’s the noob after this.”

On Keith’s team he had his starter, a Blaziken chosen because he knew Blaziken was a fighting type, a Ninjask, a Zangoose, a Flygon, a Banette and a Latios.

Lance had his starter, Swampert chosen because it had a funny face, an Aggron, a Manectric, a Heracross, a Metagross and a Latias.

Their fighting styles couldn’t be more different. Keith relied mostly on the strength and type advantages on his team so at the start he was winning but towards the end Lance’s planning brought him the win. Lance cheered when Keith’s last pokemon fainted. It had been a really close battle, down to the wire actually, one false slip on either side and the match could’ve been turned around.

Keith stretched. “Good game.” He said leaning back, he had his feet crossed, shoes off, resting on the end of Lance’s hospital bed. “Guess I am still the noob.”

“Yeah, you can’t beat the master with only pure strength you have to manoeuvre, ya gotta finesse the pokes.” Lance said. “Use their powers for your gain.”

“Wow, you don’t need to go all evil villain on me.”

“Do you think you can use the phrase ‘use their powers for your gain’, without sounding like a villain?.”

Keith shook his head. “No.”

“Hey I have extra pajamas if you wanna change?.”

“Really?, you don’t mind?.”

“Nah, here.” Lance retrieved a shirt and some pants and threw them to keith. “Take ‘em.”

Keith took the clothes and went into the bathroom. He came back out a moment later and Lance’s heart skipped a beat. Lance liked baggy shirts when he relaxed. So that shirt on a slightly smaller Keith was golden. He swallowed. ‘ _it’s like a boyfriend shir_ t’ He thought. He couldn’t trust his thoughts anymore.

“Why are you staring?,” Keith questioned, tugging at the end of the shirt which did nothing but add to the cuteness. “do I look weird?.”

“No. No!.” Lance shook his head frantically, trying to suppress the oncoming blush. “I just- you look fine.”

“Okay…”

Keith sat back into the chair and moved around, trying to get comfortable. “Why don’t you sit next to me?.” Lance said.

“Are you sure there’s enough room?.”

“Yeah.” He shuffled to the side, leaving room for Keith. “Get the light before you hop in.” Keith turned off the main light and the long bulb over the bed glowed softly. Keith sat next to Lance, there was enough room, but barely. There was about five inches between them.

“Hey, can I ask you somethin’?.” Lance began.

“Yeah, sure.” their tones were hushed now, they were voices that carried secrets only told at night.

“You remember that day you unlocked the janitor’s closet at school?.” Lance started.

Keith smiled fondly. “Yeah and you were locked inside.”

“What were you doing there?, why did you pick that lock? Why did you need to get in there so bad?.” Lance asked, a lot of the time he couldn’t help but ask a few more questions than necessary.

Keith didn’t answer for a while. He twiddled his thumbs. “I’ll tell you but you can’t say anything, promise?.”

A flurry of situations rushed through Lance’s mind. What could he have been doing?. “I promise.”

“I was doing a favour for my foster brother Carter.” He said. “He went to our high school last year but got kicked out for… well, just being him really. Anyway he left some drugs in the ceiling tiles in there and he made me get them for him.”

“Wait is he the guy that was waiting for you after we had joint detention?.”

“Yup. That’s Carter.” He didn’t say the name with any fanfare, not even with anything that even resembled any positive feelings.

“Was he the person you were running from that night we first met.” The question came to Lance’s lips before his mind had fully registered it.

Lance thought tears might have been welling up in Keith’s eyes. “Yes.”

“Why were you running from him?.”

“Lance, can we drop it?.” His voice sounded frail. Lance placed his hand on Keith’s. “You can tell me.”

Keith looked at Lance. “How can you expect me to trust you with my stuff if you can’t trust me with yours?. Lance, _you_ can tell _me._ ”

“Fair.” Lance said. “A trade then. I’ll tell you something then you tell me why you were running from Carter.”

“Okay.”

Lance took a deep breath. “I won’t tell you everything but, here goes. I have nightmares sometimes. Bad ones.They’re all very similar. They terrify me Keith, they make me feel tiny and worthless.” He gripped Keith’s hand, feeling a tear coming on. “I- I wet the bed too. Only when I have the nightmares. No-one else on earth knows that.”

“I won’t tell anyone Lance. You have nothing to be ashamed of… you’re only human.” Keith said. “Don’t you feel better?.”

“I do. Much better”

“See?” Keith said gently, running his thumb over Lance’s hand. “Doesn’t it feel good to trust?”

“Yeah.” Lance replied, wiping his tears on the back of his hand. “It does. Your turn.” he didn’t say it forcefully, he said it as though he was passing the talking stick to Keith. The stage was his now.

They sat there in silence for a long while and Lance had never been more entranced by keith.Slowly, his lips parted and he said “Carter found out that I was- am- gay.” Lance would have said something then, but it sounded like Keith had more to say. So instead he looked intently at keith and gave a nod of encouragement. “It was stupid, it was a stupid thing. I was sitting around reading a book and he came in with.. With a naked picture of two different random girls and I didn’t want to look but he kept shoving it into my face saying ‘which one one would you rather bone?, which one do you think is hotter?, c’mon what’re you? _gay!_?’”He spat the last word with venom then bit his lip. His voice got quieter “I wasn’t going to tell him. I didn’t want to, but he wouldn’t stop, So I said ‘yes’. I shouted it really. And then he… his entire face changed and he told me I had ten seconds to run. I let him count to five until I took him seriously. I avoided him at home until it cooled down. He had told his mother and she’s a lovely woman. Said it didn’t matter who I loved.”

“Thanks for telling me that.” Lance said. “You know me and Hunk don’t care who you love either, you already know I’m bi.” Bi jokes were a staple in Lance’s humour. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out.

“I knew you guys wouldn’t care but I was a little scared that if the kids around school found out then they might _do_ something.”

“You know you’re so different to how everyone thought you were. Everyone is afraid of you and yet you’re afraid of everyone else.” Lance laughed, Keith had always been a contradiction. “And the kids at school don’t care about people being gay, well most of them and the ones that do couldn't take you in a fight, especially if me and Hunk are behind you. No question.”

“I guess that’s true.” Keith said. “I’ll tell Hunk tomorrow.” Lance felt Keith's hand brush on his own and when he glanced at Keith’s face he saw he was looking away. Lance, for once, took the hint and slowly slid his fingers around Keith’s hand.

The two of them sat there in silence. Lance thought his heartbeat might be audible though. Lance watched on as Keith fell asleep. First his head nodded forward, then to the side and the finally it rested on Lance’s shoulder. He was struck with how long Keith’s eyelashes were and the way they curled upwards.

Lance reached out with his free hand and, careful not to move too much, turned off the light. The only light now was from a streetlamp across the road. It was dulled by the blind but a small stream reached the bed from underneath it.

Lance rested his head on Keith’s. His hair was soft and it smelled good, like coconuts. He could feel the rise and fall of Keith’s breaths. This entire scene was like a daydream to him. He smiled. His eyes closed and, softly, he fell asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter of my fic ['The Hardest Part Of This Is Leaving You' ](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8211023/chapters/18815825) is up!. Go read it and cry. I did. Multiple times. shh i'm weak.


	9. The True Nature Of A Friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter 9, updated to include the entire thing bc ao3 hates me and decided to get rid of 70% of it last time!! enjoy, hopefully! haha.
> 
> ALSO!!!, a major thank you to the user that pointed this out to me, Gengars thank you!
> 
> [Art for this chapter!](http://roostertease-it.tumblr.com/post/152305904149/art-for-the-newest-chapter-of-my-fic-in-the-shape)

 

Lance was awoken by a woman at eight-thirty in the morning who brought in a tray with frosted cornflakes, milk and orange juice. She placed it on the table, smiled at Lance and left. The first thing Lance noticed after that was Keith was gone.Then he spotted a note on the pillow next to him.

_ “I had fun yesterday.  _ \- Keith” It read, he couldn’t help but smile.

He folded the note and put it in his bag.

Lance’s pyjamas, that Keith had worn, were folded neatly on the end of his bed. The room had been tidied, all their rubbish was in the bin. Keith was gone.

Lance pulled the tabled over and tiredly ate his cornflakes. He hadn’t slept a whole night through that comfortably in months. He checked his phone with his free hand. He had a few notifications from his instagram and facebook but nothing important, he threw it down. As soon as he’d shovelled his cornflakes down he fell back asleep.

He was woken again by a nurse this time who checked his vitals before leaving. He didn’t fall asleep that time and instead watched the T.V that was in his room, it wasn’t long before he got fed up and switched to watching netflix on his phone. He rejoiced when his mother called.

“Hola Mamá” He said cheerily down the phone.

“Hola Mijo, how are you?.” she asked. “Ready to be picked up?.”

“yeah, that’d be great i’m getting really bored here.”

“So soon, would you not like to stay longer?.” She joked. “I’ll be there soon, I’m bringing you a surprise!.”

“Really?”

“Si, hasta luego!” She said “Te amo.”

“Te amo.” He replied and heard the click as she hung up. He stretched and yawned before getting dressed.

She arrived very soon after the call and walked in with a big smile on her face. She hugged him warmly and placed a few dozen kisses on his cheeks. “Ah time to go.” She said grabbing his bag.

“No mamá, I can take that.” He said, going for the bag.

“No, no, no. This once I will be the one to carry bags for you.”

“Okay. What’s my surprise?.”

“Patience, it’s in the car.” she said with a childish smile on her face.

‘It’ turned out to be Rex and a take away McDonalds bag. He was overjoyed to see both, though he made sure to give Rex some love before he scarfed down his McDonald's.

“Gracias, Gracias, Gracias.” He repeated as he ate his food. “Te amo Mamá” 

“Slow down, I will be drowned in love and you will choke.” She said laughing. “I thought you would like some of that food and Rex missed you yesterday, he was whining ‘where is my Lance?, where is my Lance?.’ He is a very dramatic little guy.”

“Is that right buddy?.” Lance said, turning to the back seat and giving Rex a pat on the head. “I won’t be disappearing again anytime soon.”

Rex looked as if he were smiling while he hopped around in the back, yapping with delight. Lance was finished his food so he grabbed Rex and pulled him onto his lap.

“How did it go yesterday with that boy?, Keith?.” His mom said, raising her eyebrows. 

“I was meaning to say mom, we’re not together.” Lance said, pretending to concentrate on Rex. “He’s just a friend.”

“It didn’t seem that way to me, but okay whatever you say.” She said, smiling.

“Mamá” Lance whined. “Sometimes I wish I hadn’t told you I was bi.” He said jokingly. “I would’ve kept it to myself if I knew you’d tease me like this.”

“Ah Lance, I would tease you no matter what I am your Mamá.”

“Fair.”

They got home shortly after that and Lance’s mom let him take Rex up to his room ‘Just this once’.  So he curled up on his bed, Rex in his lap and netflix on his tv. He relaxed all day and just stayed in bed, his mother brought him up a sandwich and some snacks at lunch and reminded him that this was a once off. He got a text at 3:55 From Hunk, it read ‘ _ How are you feeling bud?. _ ’

**Lance:** _Good. Been lazing around all day._

**Hunk:** _ good good… Keith told me he was gay today, He said he told you yesterday. He wasn't nervous at all, which is good. He said it was bc you told him neither of us cared. I mean you’re very bi so he shoulda known rly. _

 

Lance laughed at the last line. He was glad Keith had told Hunk he was gay, or that he was comfortable to. Hunk deserved to be trusted. It also made him think how far their friendship had come in such a short space of time, it felt good.

**Lance:** _ye ye. He said he didnt think wed care but was nervous bc of the kids in school._

**Hunk:** _Ya he said that to me too. wanna come to mine later?. Keith’ll be there. My mom said you guys can stay the night._

**Lance:** _Idk if my mom will let me…. Lemme ask_

**Hunk:** _ Cool  _

Lance got up for what seemed like the first time that day and went to find his mom. “C’mon.” He said to Rex. The little guy followed, running around Lance’s heels, his nails clicking against the floor. “Mamá.” He called as he came down the stairs. 

“Si Lance?.” She called back in a sing-song voice. He followed her voice into the kitchen, she was washing dishes and doing little dances to some spanish song on the radio. His mother loved the radio, though he rarely saw her listening to it these days. “Come here and dance for me mi cielo!”

He grabbed her wet hand and twirled her a few times, her long dark strands of hair and colourful skirt flowing around her as she spun. She laughed a glorious laugh, one that filled her face. Rex tried to join in, running circles around her feet as she did another twirl, then she did another laugh and took a deep breath signalling it was over.

“Now, Mijo, what is it you want?.” She said, dabbing some from foam the sink onto Lance's nose He wiped it off, laughing.

“Hunk asked me to stay over tonight, do you mind if I go?.”

She had an unsure look on her face but then nodded. “No, no go ahead, but you must be back early tomorrow because I have to work and I don't want Rex alone too long. And don’t overdo it okay?.”

“Okay Mamá, thank you!” He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek before he went back upstairs to get his things. He shoved a pair of clean pyjamas into his bag along with his chargers and various technologies (his nintendo, laptop, phone and mp3 player), some mints (because why not?), and his pills. He slung his sleeping bag over his shoulder and he was ready.

**Lance:** On the way 

**Hunk:** great! Can you pls get keith on your way, he forgot the way :L

**Lance:** kk

**Hunk:** thank you

**Lance:** Np np

He said goodbye and popped in his earphones. He listened to ‘ _ Very busy people _ ’ by the limousines then ‘ _ Nine in the afternoon _ ’ by Panic! At the disco. He was halfway through ‘ _ Everybody talks _ ’ by neon trees when he got to Keiths house. He rung the bell and put his Mp3 player away, still humming the song. 

A woman came to the door. Her face was small and thin and her hair was blonde but mousy. She looked to be in her early forties. She had a meek smile on her face. “Keith’s friend?, Lance is it?.”

He nodded. “Yes Ma’am.”

“Lovely to meet you!, come in come in.” She stepped to the side to let Lance in. “Keith told me about you. Keith’s in his room. Upstairs and it’s the second door on the right.”

“Thank you.” Lance said as he went up the stairs. The house was very clean but it didn’t feel loved. The walls were plain and boring, they were painted a greyish shade of beige and Lance thought that it might have been twenty years ago when they were last painted. 

He came to Keiths door and knocked on it. “Yes!?.” He heard Keith call from inside. “What do you want?.”

“Uhm, It’s me… Lance.” He said.

“Oh!.” The door opened to Keith’s smiling face. “Come in for a sec I’m not ready yet.” 

Lance went in. Keith’s room was a mess. Well the walls were anyway. They were covered in clips of text and mostly black and white photos. There were different coloured pins spread everywhere and strings of yarns connecting this to each other. It took Lance a moment to take that in before he asked. “W-what's with all the…” He didn’t know what it was exactly. “All the uh the-the stuff. On the walls.”

“Oh that.” he said as if it was a normal thing, which it definitely wasn’t. “I like conspiracy theories and police cases and stuff, basically everything that needs figuring out.” 

“Oh… okay interesting.” Lance said. He squinted at the papers and couldn’t make sense of any of it. He sat down on Keith’s bed. That’s when he noticed that on top of Keith’s wooden wardrobe the water bottle he’d bought him after they’d become friends. He was sure it was the same one because it had a red wrapper on it and still had the dent in it. “Keith.” He said. “Is that the water bottle I got you?.”

“The one on my wardrobe?, yeah.”

“Why’d you keep it?.” He asked.

Keith’s eyebrows furrowed, like that was a strange question to ask. “Well, it was your first gift to me, of course I kept it.”

Lance thought his heart might explode then. ‘ _ Of course I kept it _ ’. Keith had kept a two dollar water bottle because it was the first thing Lance bought him. How innocently cute was that?. “Fair.” Lance replied, his voice going high as he tried to internalise the amount of cute-overload he was experiencing.

He watched as Keith flitted about the room picking things up and putting them down again. “You okay there?.”

“I-I’m not really sure what to bring…” Keith said, wringing his hands. “I’ve never been to a sleepover before.”

It struck Lance once again just how much Keith had missed out on in his life. He tried not to show it and instead smiled and said. “I can help with that!, all you really need is pyjamas, your toothbrush, phone, your nintendo aaannnd a sleeping bag.”

“Hmm I don’t have a sleeping bag..”

“I’ll just text hunk and see if he has an extra, he probably does.”

 

**Lance:** keith doesn’t have a sleeping bag that k?

**Hunk:** ye I have something set up

**Lance:** Thanks boii

 

“Hunk said he has something set up, I have no idea what that means but we’ll find out I guess.” Lance said, shrugging his shoulders.

“Okay well in that case I’m ready to go!.”  He grabbed his bag and they headed off.

They got there a few minutes later and Lance knocked on the door. It was a regular house, one with red brick and yellow-painted concrete walls. It was the homeliest place Lance had ever been. It was warm and full to bursting with love. It had a nostalgic feel about it. The door swung open to reveal mrs Garrett, her round face full of joy. “Hello Lance! And Keith too! Nice to see you two again! Hunk is upstairs, if you need anything please don’t hesitate to ask.”

“Thanks mrs Garrett!, we won’t.” Lance said. They found Hunk in his room along with two bottles of coke and various sweets and chips. It was a wonderland.

“Heyyyy” Lance said as they entered the room.

“Glad to see you up again buddy!” 

“Glad to be up.” Lance replied.

“Hey Keith.”

“Hello.” He said giving a small wave.

“Hunk what’s this thing you were setting up about?.” Lance asked. It had been on his mind since Hunk had mentioned it.

Hunk grinned. “I need your guys’ help with that one. Leave your bags here and follow me.” 

Lance and Keith threw their bags in a heap and followed Hunk. He led them to what looked to be a guest room. “Here we are, grab an edge boys.”

“An edge of what?.” Keith asked.

“The mattress, we’ll put in on my bedroom floor and you two can sleep on it.” ance and Keith exchanged a look. Neither of them were sure what to think about that. “Problem?.”

“Uh- no..” Lance said. Keith shook his head. They each grabbed a corner and haphazardly half carried half dragged the mattress into Hunks bedroom. It fit perfectly into the space Hunk had on his floor. The three collapsed onto to it, out of breath from their efforts.

“What happens now?” Keith asked. 

“Fun… I guess.” Hunk said. “Pizza, let's order pizza, my mom said we could.”

“Pizza, pizza,  _ pizza, pizza _ !” Lance chanted, pumping a fist in the air.

They went through the usual rigmarole of ordering and deciding what they wanted, while also discovering that Keith had only once ever had takeaway. The reaction from Hunk and Lance was immense, Lance didn't think he’d ever opened his mouth as wide as he did then.

The pizza came a while later and the group sat on the mattress with their backs leaned against Hunk’s bed and ate while they watched Guardians of the Galaxy. Lance thought it was a nice feeling to sit with your friends and laugh together instead of on your own.

When it was over they spent at least three hours playing nintendo games and things got intense. The competition was strong and everyone wanted to win. Then they killed a few more hours playing xbox and then Lance had an idea. “Guys.” he said, putting down his controller after being killed for the twentieth time that session. “I have an idea.”

“Oh, god, here we go.” Hunk said rolling his eyes but not losing the smile on his face. “What’s it this time?.”

Lance stood up. “I have the most teenager-y idea I have  _ ever  _ had.” He said playing it off. “ANd you guys will  _ love  _ it.”

“I highly doubt that.” Hunk said.

“Hunk.” Lance said, pointing at him with his hand, “Stop shooting down my ideas before you even here ‘em... damn…”

“What is it!?” Asked Keith, appearing like he was genuinely excited to know what Lance was about to say, which made Lance grin even wider.

“We should go…. On a night adventure!.” Lance crossed his arms and gauged the reaction to his idea. Hunk clearly thought lance was crazy and Keith looked unsure. “C’monnnn guys, listen, we’ll pack a few little things and just go for a walk nothing too scary about that, is there.”

“No, nothing scary.” Keith said, it looked like he was leaning towards Lance's side.

“Lance-”

“Hunk, before you argue with me, think about it.” Lance sat down again in front of Hunk. “You’re seventeen, the dancing queen, you can’t spend you life worrying about the things that’ll go wrong and missing out on all the fun now can you?.”

“I can actually-”

“ _ Hunk _ .”

“What do you think Keith?.” Hunk asked, turning to him.

He put his hand to his chin for a moment and thought. Lance gave his best ‘convincing’ eyebrows then Keith looked up. “I think it would be fun.”

“Okay let’s go then.”

“Hey!, How come you’ll listen to him and not me.”

Hunk shrugged. “I dunno really he just seems to have his shit together I guess.” He stood up. “Whatever let’s just go before I change my mind.”

They all put their shoes on and the excitement started to grow. Hunk lent one of his coats to Lance and another to Keith. Once they were dressed and had their bag full of snacks they headed out. It was around twelve so they crept around the house, careful not to alert Hunk’s parents or siblings. Of course that meant at any moment Keith or Lance might start laughing, they had to avoid eye-contact out of fear of breaking out into fits of laughter. Hunk’s shushing was probably louder than any noise they made anyway. In the end they got out without any trouble.

“Where to?” Hunk asked, once they had closed the gate.

“Just pick a direction and we walk!” Lance said, “Simple. I think right is a good idea today.”

Lance led the way, his heart full of the light feeling that oncoming adventure gives you. It was a clear night, the brightest stars were visible. The moon shone and covered everything that the lamplights missed in a blue and silvery hue. 

The three didn’t say anything for a while and the only noises were distant cars, their breaths, their steps and rustling leaves. Other than that the night was perfectly silent.

“Guys.” Lance said, his voice hushed and low. “That’s old public swimming pool.” They were beside a five foot wall and over it Lance could see the sign for it. The building was run-down and unlit. “I think we should break into it.” Lance had heard of this pool from a conversation between two middle aged women who were remembering its heyday. “It’s only used for teaching now apparently.” he said.

It took about 0.2 seconds for Hunk’s face to turn into a frown. “Lance you’re crazy.”

“I think we should do it.” Keith said, his mouth was making a mischievous grin.

Hunk shook his head. “Keith you too?,” He pouted. “Traitor. I thought I could trust you not to act like a complete idiot.”

“Well I won’t force you to do anything you don’t want.” Lance said. “You can wait outside if you like.” He went for the wall and placed his hands on the tip of it, he jumped and then pulled himself up. The concrete scuffed his hands a little but he sat himself on top of it. Mission complete. Keith’s grin became wider and he followed suit, landing just beside lance.

“I dunno.” Hunk said.

“Are you coming?, because me and Keith can’t sit up here all day.” Lance said, staring down at a Hunk who looked like he could use a break. Lance was about to jump back off when Hunk went for the wall. He Threw the bag he was carrying up to Lance and pulled himself up.

“Yeah!, alright!.” Lance exclaimed, cheering him on. The hopped down on the other side and kept their noise low. It didn’t look like anybody was around. They tiptoed along the side of the building and came upon a door. Lance jiggled the handle a few times. It was locked. “There must be another way in.” He said to the others.He convinced hunk to come so he wasn’t giving up that easy. No wyas. They carried on around the building. Lance spotted a window. He tugged at edge, it gaveway a bit then he pried it open with his fingers. They all exchanged excited looks. Lance climbed inside and put hi hand out to Keith, he grabbed ahold and and Lance pulled him inside. He offered his hand to Hunk but was waved off.

Once they were all inside they began to explore. The window had led them inside a bathroom, they knew it was the men's as there were urinals in the corner. They breathed a sigh of relief when the door opened. The silence continued as they walked through the hallways. Their footsteps echoed around the empty hallways. With the limited light the moon gave them, they were able to tell that the walls were covered in photos of swim-teams and swim meets. The faces of people that had long since grown up and moved on with their lives.  At The end of the hallway were a pair of closed double doors. Lance pushed on one and it gave a loud squeak before revealing its contents.

“Jackpot.” Lance said. Holding the door for the others. “Pool!” It was a huge pool and thankfully, it was filled. He could see that lots of the tiles were cracked around the edges and haphazardly fixed again.

“Wow.” Hunk said, his eyes wide. “I really didn’t think it was still used.”

“Who’s up for a swim?.” Lance asked, throwing his borrowed jacket to the floor.

“We’re gonna-?”

Lance looked at Hunk. “Why else would we be at swimming pool?.”

Hunk shrugged, looking defeated. “I don’t know why I expected any less.”

Keith’s only reply was to start stripping. Lance laughed as they all undressed and as soon as he was only in his boxers he did  a running leap for the pool. He gave out a great big “Yahoo!” as he flew through the air. He closed his eyes and immediately felt the cold water against his skin. It gave his heart a huge rush of adrenaline. He missed this feeling. He resurfaced and shook his hair out like a dog. 

Lance watched as Keith came running, a look of pure joy on his face. Keith too yelled as he jumped and hit the water with a big splash. He came up a few seconds later with the same smile still spread across his face. He moved awkwardly through the water and came to a stop next to Lance. “It’s cold as shit.” He said as he ran a hand through his hair, revealing his forehead.

“Very true.” They looked up to where Hunk was standing. He was a tad more tentative about it. “Come on!” Lance shouted. “You’ve come this far!.”

“You’re right.” Hunk replied. “No point holding back now!.” He started to run towards the pool, he jumped and grabbed his knees yelling “cannonball!” as he splashed into the water.

 

He came up a moment later and gasped for a breath. “It’s fucking freezing in here, holy shit!. I’m out!, I’m out.” Hunk made a bee-line for the ladder and didn’t turn round for the other boys protests.

“Hunk!, c’mon!.”

“Nah, I’m out!” he shouted back, water dripping from him as he climbed out. “I’m gonna find some towels! Back soon!.” He gathered his clothes and bolted away, shivering as he did so.

Lacne faced Keith. His hair was plastered to his face, there were drops clinging onto his lashes and the ends of his hair. Drips of water were plipping softly off of him into the pool. The moonlight that came from the windows overhead was bouncing from the pool and creating a glow on Keith’s entire face. He was beautiful. Lance swallowed. He hoped the lowlight covered up the fact that he was blushing.

“W-wanna race?.” Lance said, nothing else remotely clever coming into his mind.

Keith shook his head. “I’m not too good at swimming, I can to the basics but I never got into it.”

“No kidding?, I love swimming.” Lance said. “I used to swim all the time. I was on the school team. I was at the top level and everything…”

“Really?, That’s awesome!.” Keith said, his eye’s bright.

“I guess so. I worked super hard at it.” He explained. “I would get up every morning at four thirty then and run to the gym at five thirty and swim until I had school. Ah, that feels like a lifetime ago.”

“Why’d you stop?”

“Oh, lot’s of reasons.” Lance said, swimming to the edge of the pool. He put his hand on the edge, the tiles were colder than the water. “Lost interest I guess… other things happened....” His voice drifted off and Keith was next to him. Their eyes locked. Keith’s eyes were almost an impossible blue. Keith was close, not even twelve inches away. Lance felt himself moving closer and closer until-

_ Squeak _ . 

Lance pushed himself away from the pools edge. He splashed about in a panic. He turned at started swimming laps. What on earth was he about to do?. ‘ _ Ohmygodohmygodohmygod _ ’ He thought to himself as he swam.

When he’d stopped swimming laps (he’d done at least ten before he even started to calm down) Lance got out of the pool. Keith and Hunk were already dressed. Immediately he could tell that Keith was avoiding eye contact. Not that he was trying to obtain it.

 

He caught the towel Hunk threw to him. “I found a pile of ‘em in a cupboard, I feel mean using them so I put ten dollars in there.”

“That’s so…. so you.” Lance said as he began to wipe himself down. There were goosebumps all over his body.

“Funny.” Hunk said. “Keith said a similar thing, didn’t you buddy?.” When he didn’t reply Hunk continued. “He’s gone a bit quiet, tired I think.” 

Keith rubbed his eyes. “Yeah, I’m tired.”

“Let’s go then. I’ll put all this stuff away and-”

“I’ll help!” Keith said, grabbing towels and ruching out of the room.

Hunk and Lance watched him run out. “I’d almost think he was avoiding you if I didn’t know better.” Hunk followed Keith out and Lance dressed himself, making sure to give his hair a proper drying so he didn’t get a cold tomorrow. He could almost hear his mother telling him to do it.

The walk back was made in silence. Lance wasn’t sure what to say anymore, Keith was surely feeling awkward he was sure Hunk could tell that something was amiss. He was banking on Hunk’s sense to keep him from asking questions. They got back to Hunk’s room without a hitch and they took turns in the bathroom getting changed. Lance was the last one back and Hunk was fast asleep and snoring by the time he got back. Keith was facing into Hunk’s bed.

Lance let out a big yawn before he crawled into the bed next to Keith. He zipped his sleeping bag around himself. He made sure his back was facing Keith. It felt good to be in bed, but not next to Keith. It would’ve been fine if not for earlier, he scolded himself. How could he have been so impulsive. He didn’t want anything to put space between him and Keith, it had been hard enough becoming friends with him in the first place. He sighed.

Lance turned over but found that while he was doing that Keith had done the same. Their eyes went wide in unison. Keith went to turn back over but Lance stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “Keith.” Before Lance thought of what he should say he asked; “Did you have fun tonight?.”

Keith’s eyebrows knitted together. “Y-yeah… I had lot’s of fun.”

“That's great. So me and Hunk managed to make your first sleepover a good one did we?.”

“Yeah. I’ll never forget it. Thank you.”

“No problem. There’ll be many more.”

“I hope so.” Keith yawned and closed his eye’s slowly.  “Night.”

“Night.” Lance replied, feeling a little more comfortable about everything now.

  
  



	10. No. I can't.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

Lance woke up slowly the next morning. His brain wasn’t ready to function and his eyes stung.  When he did open them he saw that he was about an inch from Keith’s face, their foreheads were practically touching. He sat up and put his hand on his heart, forsaking whatever god it was that kept doing this to him.

The room was aglow with a pink sunrise and everything was still. The only noises were Hunk’s soft snores and Keith’s peaceful breathing. Lance checked his phone; 7:04 am. He hadn’t a clue why he’d woken that early until he remembered that he’d been harshly woken by the dinner lady around this time yesterday. Damn body clock.

Lance lied back down, turning away from Keith and wasted the next couple hours on his phone. It was nine before he heard any movement next to him. “You awake?.” He whispered.

“Mmm yeah.” Keith replied rubbing the sleep from his eyes. “Been up long?.”

“Since seven.” He replied.

“What!?”

“I know right?.” He laughed.

“Morning guys.” Hunk said, sitting up. “How’d you sleep?.”

“Pretty well.” Lance said.

“Yeah not to bad.”

Hunk yawned a huge yawn and said “Good, good. Come downstairs and I’ll see what I can get us for breakfast.”

They headed downstairs and ended up having toast and orange juice after that Lance grabbed his clothes from his bag and went into Hunk’s bathroom to change. He had remembered what his mother said about getting home early and wasn’t sure how early ‘ _early’_ was.

“I gotta go now.” He said to Hunk and Keith. “My mom said I had to be back early.”

“Oh, I’ll come with.” Keith said “Just a sec’” he ran into the bathroom and came back a minute later fully dressed. “Okay ready.”

“Bye Hunk, see you Monday” Lance said as they left. The world was beginning to come to life with people bustling about. “So, What did you make of your first ever sleepover? Was it what you were expecting?.”

“Not at all.” Keith said. “I thought it would be great and instead, it was amazing!.”

“Good, I’m glad you enjoyed it.” The conversation lulled into silence after that. Lance was unsure whether he should say anything about their little _incident_ in the pool. He tugged at his bag strap, he was beginning to redden just thinking about it. He glanced at Keith who seemed just to be enjoying the morning. He decided that nothing had really _happened_ so he didn’t have to mention it.

They soon came upon Keith’s house and Lance waved him off. He carried on walking once Keith was inside and breathed a sigh of relief that it hadn’t been weird or awkward to walk with him. This relief was momentary however because a few seconds later he he felt a hand on his shoulder. He whipped around. And looked up to face a tall boy. He recognised him.

“ _Carter_?.” not believing what he said as the name came out of his mouth. To him Carter was a mysterious person, one far away and rarely seen, not this giant upclose mass of a person.

“Get over here.” he said, roughly pulling him into a nearby alleyway. Lance let himself be pulled along out of sheer surprise if nothing else. Carter threw him roughly against the stone wall that loomed above.

“Dude?.” Lance said. “I came over didn’t I?, no need to shove-” Crack. Lance felt the fist on his face before he saw it. He fell against the wall, confused and in pain. He put his hand to his cheek. “What the fuck?.” he growled. He barely knew this person, this was the first time he’d ever met him?. _What the fuck!?._

“Lance right?.” Carter asked, a smug look of superiority on his face. He cracked his knuckles and leant on the wall across from him.

“Yes.” He replied feeling immediate disdain, approaching on hatred very quickly. “I see you’re a punch first ask questions later kinda dude.”

“It was a warning punch.” He said, grinding the fist he used to punch Lance into the palm of his other hand. “Stay away from Keith.”

“What?.” Lance asked, standing up straight.

“You heard me bastard, stay away from Keith. Don’t talk to him, don’t look at him… stay away from him, got it?.” He cracked his knuckles again. “Or there’ll be more where that came from.”

“No!, what the hell are you talking about?. Keith is my friend!, I’m not just going to ignore him because some douchebag told me to.” Lance said, shaking his head vigorously at the outrageousness of the request.

“I can be very convincing.” He said threateningly as he took a step towards Lance.

Lance considered his options. Give in to what he was saying, fight back or run. He wasn’t doing the first. He looked Carter up and down, he was basically muscles with a brain, there was no way lance could put up a fight with him. So number three was the winner. He launched his sleeping bag at Carter and took flight in the other direction. It wasn’t five seconds until he was being dragged back by his collar.

“Just tell me you’ll stay away from him and this will all be over.” He said, squeezing down on Lance’s neck. He pulled at Carter’s hands to no avail.

“No.” He said, straining to speak.

He was thrown against the wall again and Carter gave him a swift kick to the stomach. He curled into the fetal position. He covered his head with his hands. Carter yanked him up by his hair. He forced him to stand. “Keith is my friend.”

“Fuck off, I’ve seen the way you look at him.” He said. “It makes me sick, you’re the one who’s giving him these faggy ideas aren’t you?.”

“What are you talking about?, you’re crazy.” Fear was beginning to take him over.

“You like him don’t you?, don’t you?.” He punched Lance in the gut, making him double over in pain.

“He’s my friend!” Lance cried. “Can’t he be my friend?!.”

“Not when you have ideas about him faggot.” Carter said, spitting the word into his face. “Admit it you like him. As more than just a friend.”

Carter was staring him down, his dark brown eyes boring a hole into Lance’s soul. Before he knew it he was yelling; “So what if I do!?” then he took a breath. “He’s still my friend!.”

Carter shook his head. “I knew it, _scum_.” He shoved Lance back, he stumbled and fell hitting his backside on the hard pavement. Carter spat on him. “Stay away from Keith.” He began to walk away.

“I’m not afraid of you.” Lance knew it was a lie as he said it. He was afraid, deathly afraid because he knew Carter wasn’t to be messed with, but Keith was his friend and he wouldn’t abandon him. “I will _never_ leave him alone.”

He saw the anger grow on Carter’s face. “I’ll give you this warning, stay away from him. If I see you near him I’ll make you feel more pain than you thought was possible. Keith’s _mine_.” With that he turned and left.

Lance coughed and felt pain all across his stomach and chest. “Bastard.” He hissed, feeling tears prick at the sides of his eyes. How was he going to explain all this?. The only thing he was thankful for was that he had only hit his face once. He could hide everything else. He got up slowly and gathered his things in a dazed state of disbelief. What on earth had just happened?.

As soon as he got home he rushed upstairs, saying to his mom that he was too tired to talk to her. He dumped his bags on his floor and went to his bathroom. He poked at his face, it was definitely going to bruise. He pulled up his shirt, there was already the beginnings of a bruise across his stomach. “Why?.” he said as a tear dropped from his face, “Don’t I ever have _enough_ problems?.”

He heard his mother leave and call a goodbye up to him. He went downstairs and took a bag of frozen peas from the freezer to press to his face. He hoped against all hope that it would make even the slightest difference. He thought of all the ways he might explain a bruise on his face, he went through multiple options until he decided on saying he ran into a pole while playing pokemon go. It was a dumb explanation but a believable one.

After a while he put the peas back and loped upstairs, flopping onto his bed. Forgetting painfully that he’d just been beaten up. He got under his blanket and decided to address the other problem he’d made for himself. He’d just admitted to Carter, and himself, that he liked Keith. He buried his face into his hands. “Holy shit I do like him.” He might’ve even been happy about it if he didn’t have Carter’s threat hanging over his head.

He thought about last night, when he and Keith were in the pool. He had definitely been about to kiss him. Lance’s heart skipped a beat with that realisation. It wasn’t just that he’d been about to do it, he’d wanted to; badly.

He squeezed his eyes shut and tried not to think about anything. It didn’t work very well but he’d eventually fallen asleep thinking about just how attractive Keith looked in the pool yesterday. He woke up a couple hours later groggily. It took him a minute before he remembered what happened earlier. He sighed to himself and decided to take Rex for a walk to take his mind off it all.

Rex was more than happy to oblige in Lance’s self distraction and was yapping excitedly as Lance put his leash on. He was getting bigger very fast and his little paws were starting to become dog-sized instead of puppy-sized.

They set off in the opposite direction of Keith’s house. Lance looked at the ground, letting Rex lead him along.It was a while before Lance noticed just how far he walked; when he looked up he realised he didn’t know where he was. He saw that he was outside a coffee shop, it was small building and looked like a house convert. He liked the feel of it and decided to get something. He tied Rex onto a table and came back a few minutes later with a mocha. He sipped it and his tastebuds tingled at the familiar taste. He placed it down to cool.

“Wow!” He looked over to see a girl with short golden hair crouch in front of his dog. “What’s his name?” She asked, scratching under his neck.

“Rex.” Lance answered her, smiling.

“Aww” She cooed. “Such a big name for such a little guy. What breed is he?.”

“A springer.” Lance replied.

“I have a beagle at home called rover.” She pulled out her phone and showed him a picture of her, what looked to be her brother and the dog.

“He’s so cute!” Lance said.

The girl stood up. “I know right!?.” She looked from side to side the place was full.

“You can sit here if you want.” Lance offered, there being a free seat across from him.

“Thank you!” she put her bag on the floor and her muffin on the table. She pulled out her laptop and booted it up. “I come here everyday to do a little coding, the muffins are my favourite.”

Lance laughed. “I’ve never been here before, if I’m being honest I’m actually a bit lost.”

“Well whereabouts do you live uh- what’s your name?.”

“Lance.”

“Hello Lance I’m Katie but everyone calls me Pidge.” She nodded, pushing up her big round glasses.

“Hello Pidge.” He explained to her where he lived and she drew him a little map to find his way home.

“You know how you can thank me.” Pidge began after she’d finished drawing her map.

“No, how?.”

“Tell me how you got that bruise on your eye. It’s been bugging me.”

Lance put his hand to his eye, he’d forgotten all about the bruise and the beating and everything Carter had said to him. “That one’s a bit of a long story… sure you want to hear it?.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Only if you wanna tell it.”

“If you’re willing to give me some advice when i’m done.” He was unsure why he was even willing to tell this girl any of his personal business. But she seemed like a good person to talk to; considering he couldn’t tell Keith or Hunk or his Mother.

“Sure.” She said with a shrug.

“Well… this guy he beat me up like proper full on beat me up. I can see you’re wondering why and that’s why I need the advice. There’s this guy called Keith and his foster brother is the one who beat me up because he doesn’t want me to see him anymore because well…” He looked at Pidge and wondered whether he could trust her with the next piece of information. Something in her warm gaze told him he could.  “He thinks I made him gay. The big problem is he told me he’ll hurt me if I go near him again but I promised Keith I wouldn’t abandon him and I don’t wanna leave him alone anyway. SO, what should I do?”

“That’s heavy.” Pidge said simply. She leaned her chin on her hand. “I think fuck that dude’s foster brother anyway…”

Lance's eyes widened at her language but he didn’t say anything about it.

“Honestly It really depends on how much you care about this Keith guy. Do you think you could avoid him? Or never talk to him again.”

“I don’t think I can.” Lance said as he looked her in the eyes. “No. I can’t. It took me a weirdly long time to realise but I like Keith.” His heart skipped a beat as he said it, because now he had spoken it and that made it feel a great deal more real than it had a moment ago. He almost couldn’t contain his smile. “I won’t leave him alone. I can’t let everything go back to the way it used to be.”

“Well then.” She said, the light glinting off her glasses. “It’s simple, don’t stay away from him and hope this guy won’t follow up on his threat.”

“You think that’ll work?” Lance replied, very unsure in her ‘simple’ plan.

“No, not really.” Lance squinted at her. “But it’s a complex problem. Really I think you should tell this Keith guy about what his foster brother did to you but I can kinda see why that’s not an option.”

“Nah I wouldn’t want to worry him.”

“Thought so.”

Lance mulled this plan over in his mind. Just ignore that it ever happened?, was that really his option?. He couldn’t see any other way…. “Okay. I think that’s my best bet.” He went to get up then sat back in his chair. “One other thing?”

“Yeah?.”

“Do you think telling people I ran into a pole playing Pokemon go would work?.”

She looked him up and down then said. “I’m not gonna lie, if any person were to run into a pole playing Pokemon go you’d be the type.”

“Good.” He paused. “I guess.” He got up again and drank the rest of his lukewarm mocha before throwing into a nearby bin. “Thank you Pidge.”

“No problem Lance, good luck finding your way home and with the Keith thing.” She put her hands to the keyboard and typed like her hands were hooked up to an electric cable.

He grinned and waved at her. Rex yapped a goodbye too. He wondered as he walked away how many of his recent problems could be described as a ‘Keith thing.’ He laughed at the thought then shoved a hand into his pocket. It amazed him how much ten minutes could change something. That morning the only thing he was worried about was his _almost-kiss_ with Keith then it had been the Carter thing and now… now it was how he was going to tell Keith that he liked him.

He grinned wider than he had in a long while, so wide that it hurt. He clutched Rex’s lead in his hand and began to run. Run and laugh. He liked Keith Kogane.  



	11. Happy Together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter's a little less exciting than the last but I kinda enjoyed the feeling I got while writing it, in any case here you go!.

 

Lance woke up excited on monday morning, he had decided that he wouldn’t mention anything to Keith about liking him until the whole Carter thing had died down a bit. He figured maybe two or three weeks would do it. He was excited because that day would be the first day he’d see Keith since he realised he liked him and it gave him butterflies in his stomach. 

He did his best to look nice, which was hard given that his bruise had darkened at least three shades. He had dug out his favourite plaid shirt from the back of his wardrobe  (he only wore it on special occasions) and had even ironed his pants. He looked at himself in the mirror and flicked up his collar, pointing finger guns at himself . “Lookin’ gooood.”

He went downstairs and said goodbye to his mother who called after him “Don’t run into anymore poles chasing those poken-men.” She had bought the story immediately and had been laughing at him everyday since. The real challenge would be convincing Hunk and Keith. He waited at the bus-stop rocking back and forth on his heels nervously.

The bus turned the corner and alarms went off in his mind. He got on and couldn’t keep the smile off his face when he saw Keith sat at the back. He  _ definitely  _ liked him. He sat in between Hunk and Keith. The inevitable question came from Hunk. “What happened to your eye?!”

“Oh this?.” He said, pretending that he hadn’t just been obsessing over it. “You don’t wanna know.” He saw the faux-horror on their faces then added, lowering his voice and trying his best to sound ashamed. “I ran into a pole playing pokemon go okay!?.”

“No WAY.” Hunk said, looking like he struck gold. He fell into peals of laughter. “I. can’t. Believe.” He said between breaths.

Keith laughed along too he asked. “What were you trying to catch?.”

That’s when Lance realised that he hadn’t ever considered that someone might ask follow-up questions. “I don’t even remember!, I think it might’ve been a psyduck.”

“Oh right.” Keith said, believing him.

He tried to change the subject quickly. “So how’ve you guys been?.”

He succeeded and got them into the flow of a new conversation. The amount of relief he was feeling in that moment couldn’t be registered. 

They got into school and kept talking until they were stopped by someone, It was a boy with blond hair cut just above the ears. Lance recognised him from english but couldn’t remember his name. “Hey Hunk!” The boy said excitedly. “I was looking for you.”

“Silas!” He patted his arm then turned back to Lance and Keith. “What’d you want?.”

“Dude, I’m having a party this weekend and you  _ have  _ to come. You can bring your friends here too if you want. It’s at my house on Friday, It’s a halloween thing but just masquerade.  I’ll message you on facebook later, I have to go to class. Bye!” He waved and ran off, it looked like he was late.

“He’s a whirlwind isn’t he?.” Hunk said , shaking his head. They continued down the hallway. “Do you guys wanna go?.”

“Sure, I don’t mind.” said Lance shrugging. 

“I’ve never been to a party.” Keith said.  With a small excited smile on his face.

“We’re going.” Lance said.

Hunk laughed. “It’s a plan then, we’ll go to mine first and I’ll drive us there.”

Keith headed of for his class and Hunk and Lance went to theirs. “I can’t believe he’s never been to a party.” Hunk said.

“I think we have to stop being so surprised about these things.” LAnce said, more talking to himself than Hunk. It made him feel worse every time he thought about it. He  _ hated  _ thinking about how lonely Keith once was. The only thing that made him feel better was that he and Hunk could experience all the new, good things along with Keith.

“I think you’re right. It seems like everytime we mention something he’s never done it. He probably has never even been to the cinema.” Hunk chuckled at what he thought to be an exaggeration of the problem then his face dropped and he said; “Oh god I bet he hasn’t ever even  _ been  _ to the cinema.”

“Honestly?, That’s probably true.” The conversation lulled then, both boys turning onto their thoughts. Thoughts about Keith.

Lunch came around and the three were sat at their table eating when Hunk asked. “You guys wanna go to the cinema later? We could see that movie about the alien battles and the giant robot.”

Lance looked at Hunk and smiled warmly, he was so genuine. “Yeah sounds good to me, Keith?, how about it?.”

“Yeah, I’m up for that.” 

So it was settled. As soon as school ended Hunk drove them to the cinema (Lance made sure to text his mom). They bought their tickets and headed to the concession stand. “Three large popcorns and cokes.” Lance said the the pimply teen behind the stand. 

“WHOA” Hunk exclaimed. “You’re not really gonna eat that much are you!?”

“No, it’s for you guys.” Lance replied. “My treat.”

“I can’t let you pay for all that-” Hunk began, with Keith in clear agreement.

“No it’s my treat, I  _ insist.  _ Anyways, i’ve got money to spend.” Lance handed the cashier the money and refused any offering of money from the other boys. 

“Did you get a job or something?”Keith asked when they sat down.

“Something.” Lance said nonchalantly, trying to keep it vague.

“What?.”

“You said; ‘did you get a job or something?’ I didn’t get a job so my answer is  _ something.  _ Now shut up and eat your popcorn. Cinema popcorn is the best kind of popcorn.”

“Really?.” Lance would’ve exclaimed ‘You’ve never had cinema popcorn!’ but instead he shared a knowing look with Hunk. Keith popped a piece into his mouth and his face lit up. “Holy shit it is!”

“See, I told you. Delightfully salty.”

“Perfect description.” Hunk said.

The screen flickered on and the adverts began to play. Keith’s eyes grew wide, “It’s so loud.” He whispered to him before turning back. Lacne wished he wasn’t so cute. And so close.

“Yeah, it gets really loud sometimes.” Lance said, trying to shake off the thought. 

Half-way through the movie Lance found his eyes drifting over to Keith. His eyes were bright with excitement and his mouth was stuck in a smile. Lance saw that Keith’s hand was lying on the hand rest. He felt his fingers tingle. He wanted to grab his hand, badly. He felt the rhythm of his heart increase tempo. He clenched his fist and looked back to the screen, now wasn’t the time.

Three hours later the boys emerged from the Cinema deep in conversation about the movie which they’d all enjoyed thoroughly. “Hank was the best character ever.” Hunk said.

“Nooo, It was definitely Lawrence.” Lance said, shaking his head. “Did you  _ see  _ his lion it could spray ice. ICE.”

“You’re both wrong, it was definitely Kain. He was obviously the best fighter.”

“Whatever.” Hunk said. “ I think we all agree that they worked super well as a team.”

“Don’t you think the black paladin and the princess look kinda like Shiro and Allura?.” Lance asked.

“Holy shit they do!, they so do and that other guy’s mustache was exactly like principal Corans!”

Their car journey was made up of discussion of the movie and debate also of who was the best character. When they were dropping Keith off Lance made sure to duck so he wouldn’t be seen from the window. “Night.” He said  to Keith as he got out.

“Night.” He replied.

Lance pretended to tie his shoe, once they turned the corner he sat up and grinned at Hunk. “I think Keith enjoyed that experience.” Hunk didn’t reply, he was giving Lance a strange look. “What?.”

“You dressed up today didn’t you?.”

Lance’s eyes widened. “No I didn’t.”

“I forgot to mention it earlier but you totally did.” Hunk said, not taking any of Lance’s lies. “Who’s the lucky girl. Or dude?.”

“I’m not telling you that.” Lance said.

“So there is someone!” Hunk said.

“No!.” Lance groaned. “Shut up.”

“I’m not letting this go…” Hunk said, mischief in his voice.

“ _ Whatever. _ ”

Hunk pulled up outside Lance’s house. “You didn’t tell me today but I’ll find out sooner or later. I’m a very patient man Lance McClain.”

Lance rushed inside, avoiding any further questions Hunk was planning to ask, thought by doing that he probably made himself look even more suspicious. His mother was in bed when he got in. He went to his bedroom. He threw off his clothes and got into bed. He hoped that Hunk wouldn’t probe him for any more information. He knew he wouldn’t be able to avoid his questions forever but he needed for it to last for as long as Carter was sniffing around. He hoped that Carter wasn’t a patient man too.

The trio left their mask shopping to the day before Silas’ party and after school went to a nearby mall to seek out a mask. They went to five different shops before they found one that sold just masks on their own. There were plenty of werewolf ones and vampire, ghoul, frankenstein mask and dead ‘insert anything here’ ones. Hunk picked out a brown, hairy were-wolf one and put it on. “It fits, I’m buying it.”

“Hunk, you gotta find one that doesn’t just feel good, it looks good too.” Lance said, picking up a butterfly mask he put it to his face. “ _ See.  _ style.”

“I’m buying this one.” He said and headed for the register.

Lance tutted and put the butterfly one down. “C’mon Keith, I’ll find one that looks good on you.” He pulled a willing Keith further into the shop and perused the selection. He picked up a thin black Zorro-esque mask and passed it to Keith. He held it to his eye’s. It had a thin mesh over the eye holes so you couldn’t see in.  Keith looked at himself in a mirror.

“This looks kinda cool. I’ll get this one.” He looked back at the selection and plucked one from the throng. “You should try this one.” 

Lance took it from Keith. It was cobalt blue and was shaped vaguely like pointy sunglasses but had a olden day feel about it. It was decorated with gold and silver metallic swirls. Lance put it on and went to the mirror. He could see Keith watching him in the reflection.

“See, it looks great!.”

“Y-yeah” Lance said hurriedly taking it off. “I’ll get this one then.” They went to pay and Lance decided that he liked mask shopping.

The party came much quicker than Lance expected, they were sitting in Hunk’s room waiting for nine o’clock so they could go.

“I’m gonna be taking this thing off after like ten minutes I swear.” Hunk said staring at his very hairy were-wolf mask. “I made a bad choice.”

Lance laughed. “Probably yeah but I bet most people take their masks off right away and there'll be people that don't come with masks on at all.”

“You’re right.” Hunk said, putting his mask down.

“I’m wearing mine all night.” Keith said, he already had it on. Lance was slightly worried that he might start wearing in on the regular.

“I’ll try to keep mine on all night but it’ll probably get all sticky underneath since it’s plastic but we’ll see.”

“It’s nine!” Keith said. He was clearly more excited by this party than Lance and Hunk put together, but that in turn made Lance more excited.

They piled into Hunk’s car and blasted out music until they pulled up outside Silas’ house. There were a few more cars outside and a couple people walking in. They got out and Lance could hear the music from outside. There was a whole range of masks; butterfly ones, fairy ones, vampire ones and a rainbow of colour surroundered them. The house was packed with masked people laughing and talking and dancing.

Hunk spotted Silas and they went over. “This is an awesome party Silas, It’s cool to see everyone in masks.” Silas was in a very ornamental white mask that looked like it could be actual porcelain, Lance figured that mask could be the reason this party was happening.

“Oh hey guys!, Thanks Hunk.” He gave him a quick side hug “There’s food and drink over in that corner so help yourself.”

Hunks eyes twinkled at the mention of food and  he headed straight for the table. Keith and Lance weren’t far behind him. It was a large table covered in all kinds of party food, Lance went for the cocktail sausages and some tortilla chips with dip, he washed it down with a cup of coke. Once all three of them were satisfied they thought of what to do next. Lance wanted to dance.

“I can’t dance.” Keith said in a low voice. 

“ _ Nobody  _ can  _ really  _ dance.” Lance said, putting his arm around Keith’s shoulders. “It’s more a matter of just moving to the music, do whatever you feel like you should do and that’ll be alright.”

“I could  _ try.”  _ Keith said.

“That’s good enough for me.” Lance grabbed his hand and pulled him towards  the spot where people were dancing. He stopped when he noticed Hunk wasn’t following. “C’mon Hunk, you too.”

“Nah” He said, waving Lance off. “I really need the bathroom.” Lance gave him a questioning look and he continued; “I’ll find you guys when I’m done. Promise!”

“Okay!.” Lance said, not really believing him but he thought he’d let him get away with it just this once. “See you later. Now  _ you”  _ he said turing to Keith and grabbing his hand. “let’s go  _ dance!. _ ”

The music wasn’t that bad, it was mostly the top 40 hits but Lance thought it was better to dance to music you knew than just to a bunch of noise. Keith was slow to get into it and his movements began as simple sways but with Lance’s encouragement he started to get more into it. The smile on his face grew as did his range of movement. All hell broke loose when ‘ _ Mr Brightside _ ’ began playing. A girl next to Lance screamed as the first few notes came in and a rush of people came over. Lance and Keith shared a look and they sung and jumped and yelled along with the small crowd and the song. Lance could feel the sweat running down his back and neck but he couldn’t bring himself to stop. The look of pure elation on Keith’s face if nothing else was keeping him going. As the last notes of the song played out they gave it their all. They fell into peals of laughter when it ended. 

Without warning Keith leaned right up to Lance’s face and said into his ear; “Can we go get some air?”

“Y-yeah.” Lance said. “Let’s find a way out.” They made their way through they crowd of people who were still dancing and then through the house. There was an open door in the kitchen that led outside. fairy lights were strung up on the bushes and along the fence, giving some light to what would otherwise be darkness. The patio was a white stone, there was a patch of elevated grass separated from the patio with a wall. They sat down on the grass. “So, did you like dancing?.”

“Yeah… it was much more… _ relaxed  _ than I thought it would be.” He replied. “It was fun.”

“I told you it’d be fine.” Lance said as he took his mask off, it was beginning to get hot underneath it. He wiped his face with his hand.  Keith started to to the same but he seemed to be having trouble untying it. “Want me to untie it for you?.” He offered.

“Please.” Keith said, turning his head. Lance leaned over and tried not to notice how cute the nape of his neck was or how sweetly he smelled- He shook his head. He was getting distracted. He pulled at the black satin string and it fell away after a few tries. He handed the mask to Keith. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Lance laid back onto the grass and looked up at the sky. It was a dark blue, so dark that it could easily be mistaken for black, but it wasn't, not yet. Stars were littered throughout the dark expanse and could be seen clearly.

Keith lied down next to him and said. “Do you know any constellations?.”

“Not really… I know the big dipper, over there.” He pointed, spotting it quickly. “And the north star of course but that’s not a constellation. Do you know any?.”

“I know lots.” Keith said. “Like orion's belt.” He traced the constellation with his finger, like a giant cosmic dot-to-dot. “And Ursa major.”

He went on like that, revealing a world of constellations to Lance that’s never heard of before. He kept going and though Lance tried his best to listen he was getting lost in Keith’s eyes and his expression. His passion for the stars was lovely to witness. Maybe… maybe he was in love… Lance felt his heart flutter.

“And that’s about it.” Keith finished, laying his hand by his side once again.

“What’s your favourite place?.” Lance asked, looking softly into Keith’s star strewn eyes.

Keith lay his head against the grass and looked at Lance. “It’s kinda strange but there’s this library near our school that I found a few months ago...  it’s old and musty and there’s dust everywhere…” Lance watched Keith’s face soften with fondness for the place. “but on sunny days the light reflects the dust mites and everything moves slowly and at its own pace, it’s like in that moment everything is… still.”

“That sounds magical.” Lance said. He wanted to lean over and touch him, caress his cheek and brush the stray hairs from his face. But he held back.

“It is.” Keith breathed. “What’s your favourite place?.”

“Mine?. Hmm.” Lance thought for a moment, though he didn’t have to really. He knew where his favourite place was. “My favourite place is in a field back where I grew up. There’s a massive oak tree there and when you climb it you can see for miles... Near the top there are lots of initials engraved in it, some are way old like maybe forty or fifty years. Mine is there too, I added it when I was fifteen.” Lance glanced over to Keith, his eyes were closed and he had a soft smile on his face.

“Imagining it makes me feel warm.”

“Me too.”

Lance looked down and saw Keith’s upturned palm. He felt the itch to hold his hand once again, he felt his hand move before he could stop it. He didn’t  _ want  _ to stop it. He let his picky slide over Keith’s. He saw his eye’s widen but he didn’t move. He made their palm meant and carefully slotted each digit in between Keith’s fingers. Then he looked away, embarrassed. 

Keith’s hand mas definitely smaller than his and thinner, but only slightly. It was also warm, not hot but a comfortable heat. “Lance?.”

Lance swallowed. He was a bit apprehensive to hear what Keith was about to say. “Yeah?.”

“Thank you…” His voice wavered as he said it. “Back when you chased after me. I never thought it was possible to be so happy as I am now.” Lance faced Keith. His arm was pressed over his eyes but Lance could see a few tears had escaped. He dropped Keith’s had and sat up, pulling him into a tight embrace.

“It’s okay Keith.” Lance whispered into Keith’s ear. “We can be happy together now.” he bit his lip. It was taking all he had not to cry. He felt Keith cling onto his jumper and he held his tighter. It felt good to hold him. After a few moments they parted and sat back up. “We should probably go find Hunk.” Lance said, feeling a bit guilty that he’d forgotten.

“Yeah.” They put their masks back on and headed inside. They found Hunk in the living room.

“Sorry I was gone so long!” Hunk said, he seemed a bit worried. “I started talking to this girl, Shay, and we lost track of time.”

Lance smirked. “No worries dude.”

“Lance. It wasn’t like that.”

Lance shrugged. “Whatever you say loverboy.” Hunk glared at him but didn’t say anything, he knew Lance wasn’t letting this go.

They dance a while longer until they got tired and found somewhere to sit. They talked with each other and whoever happened to sit near them until it started to get late. Coming on one o’clock Silas was trying to get everyone out. They piled into Hunk’s car, worn out. Keith was falling asleep on the way back, his head was dipping gently forwards and then he’d catch himself just before he drifted off completely.

By the time Hunk pulled up to Keith house, he was asleep. Lance reached over and gently shook him, his eyes blinked open and he gently said “What?.” 

“We’re at your house buddy.” Lance said.

“Oh.” He got out of the car. “Bye” He called. They watched on as he slowly made his was up the driveway and into the house.

Lance felt himself going the same was Keith did and he would’ve if they hadn’t gotten to his house so quickly. “Night.” Hunk said through a yawn. “See you monday.”

“See ya monday.” He said back before he sloped tiredly up to his room. He threw his mask aside and kicked his shoes off and undressed.

He got into his bed and remembered Keith lying on the ground next to him and just how beautiful he’d looked. “Mierda.” He said, under his breath. “I’m fucked.”


	12. Deceptively Simple.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a blog for voltron/klance... mostly Klance [it's Klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com](http://klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com/)
> 
> Sorry there was no update last week I was on work experience for a week, which I suppose is kind of like being an intern??, but anyway I was wayyy to exhausted to even think about editing last week... (￣Д￣)

Everything was dark. Then suddenly it was bright a flash of white. orange. red. Lance looked down at his hand. it was on fire. He shook it. Everything was on fire. “Lance!” he heard the voice yell. The same voice that was always in his dreams. He tried to run towards it but he was being pulled back. “ _ Lance! _ .” He tried to reach out to the voice but his hands were being dragged away. He struggled in a panic but couldn’t get loose. He screamed and then choked. His Lungs were full of smoke.

“ _ I’m sorry!. _ ” He coughed and spluttered.

“LANCE!.”

He sat bolt upright and wiped the tears from his face. “Just a nightmare.” He said trying to staunch the flow of tears with the heel of his hand. “J-just a nightmare.” He took some deep breaths and sat there until his mind calmed down a bit. He flipped the blanket over and sighed in relief when he saw he hadn’t peed himself this time, though he was covered in a cold sweat.

His room was bathed in a blue light. Lance looked at his clock, it was 7:04. Nearly time to wake up anyway. He brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin on them. It was comforting to him to sit like that.

He slapped his alarm off before it had time to ring and got ready with a blank stare. He was in another world. He got on the bus and sat in front of Keith and Hunk who chatted animatedly the whole way to school, but Lance wasn’t in the mood.

“You okay?,” Keith asked him when Hunk left for the bathroom, “You’ve been very quiet.”

Lance smiled warmly at Keith’s concerned face. “I had one of my nightmares last night so I’m just a bit out of it.”

Keith nodded. “Okay.”

It had been nearly two weeks since his altercation with Carter and he hadn’t said anything to Lance. He was beginning to think it might be safe to confess to Keith and he’d thought of numerous ways to do it but had settled on the simple way of just taking him aside and telling him. His heart raced when he thought about it. He imagined Keith’s reaction and hoped it would be a good one. He hoped that Keith liked him back. That would be nice.

“You’re staring at me.” Keith said.

Lance sat up. “Oh, didn’t mean to.” Even though he totally had meant to stare at him, he just hadn’t meant for him to notice.

Hunk came back from the bathroom and slid into the seat in front of Lance. “Oh, I forgot to say I have to leave at lunch today for a dentist appointment.”

“Oh wow the excitement, bet you can’t wait.” Lance said.

“I’m on the edge of my seat just thinking about it, not gonna lie.” Hunk said. “Really though I actually used to be afraid of the dentist up until a few years ago.”

“Really?. Can’t say i’m surprised though.” Lance laughed.

“Hey!” 

The teacher came into the room and the murmur of noise went silent. Hunk left at lunch so it was just Lance and Keith in English when they were taken to the library. Their assignment was to find a book in the Library under a section they never usually read (which was simple for Lance because he never usually read anything) and write a thousand word essay on it. He had chosen a book called ‘ _ the maze runner’  _ because he’d seen the movie.

Lance and Keith sat at a desk together upstairs where it was quiet and there was hardly anyone there.  It smelled of old books and dust. Keith was overjoyed. “I love libraries.”

‘I love you’. Lance thought. He thought he might. The look on Keith’s face was sweet and pure and oh man did he want to kiss him. He wanted to kiss him and hold him and be with him all the time. 

“-ance, lance!” Keith said.

“Oh sorry. I was daydreaming.”

“I could see that.” he laughed. “Anyway, I was going to ask, what’s your favourite book?.”

Lance didn’t have to think for even a second about that one. “Don’t have one, I don’t read.”

Keith’s jaw nearly hit the table. “You don’t read!?, why not?.”

“I have  _ read  _ books but like it takes me a hell of effort to concentrate on a book because I have ADHD so I don’t really do it often.” Lance said, realising he’d never actually told Keith or Hunk about it. He hadn’t purposely avoided it or anything, it had just never come up.

“Oh. I see. Sorry if I sounded a little harsh earlier, I didn’t know you had ADHD.” Keith said, looking like he thought Lance might think he was a terrible person for what he’d said.

“Don’t sweat it.” Lance said, waving it off. “How would you know anyway I couldn’t care less what people think of my ADHD. I got over that years ago.”

“Hmm. I just couldn’t imagine a world where I couldn’t read books.” Keith said, lying his head on the desk. “Books were my whole world when I was younger. Pretty much still is, apart from you guys of course.”

An image came into Lance’s mind of a younger Keith curled up somewhere, probably on a windowsill or in a quiet corner with a book on his lap. His brow furrowed in deep concentration, he was immersed in a different reality. One that was better than his own. Lance loved that Keith too.

“I’d ask you what you’re favourite is but I already know…” LAnce said, remembering ‘ _ Great expectations. _ ’

Keith chuckled. “How are you doing with that by the way?.”

“Not bad…” Lance replied, not wanting to give away the fact he’d only gotten to the fourth chapter. 

“Good, good.” Keith said back to him, his concentration went back to his book after that. Keith was thumbing through his book, Lance thought it was a classic one by the cover but he couldn’t read the title but he was much more focused on Keith that he was on the book he was reading. He was using both hands to grip the book bt he wasn’t holding it tightly it was a gentle hold, like he considered the book precious. Lance didn’t doubt the fact that he did.

Lance tried to read his book but his eyes kept straying from the pages to watch Keith read, he just seemed so at peace while he read. Lance put his book on the table and held it open with one Hand. He placed the other onto the table and rested his head on it. From that position he spent their time together glancing back and forth between Keith and the book. 

When he realised just how much attention he was paying to Keith, Lance gulped. He was in deep. He’d just spent the best part of fifteen minutes  _ staring  _ at him and he hadn’t gotten bored  _ once.  _ He scratched his head and thought that liking someone might just been another form of craziness.

“Lance?.” Keith said.

Lance tried his best to internalise his surprise and hoped he hadn’t been caught out. “Yeees?”

“I think we have to go check our books out now.” He said, getting up from his chair and looking over the balcony. “Yeah, everyone’s packing up.”

Lance might’ve sighed in relief if it wouldn't give him away. “Oh. Okay.” He grabbed his book and they checked out them out. 

Lance followed Keith back to their classroom, he was a step behind him. He wondered how soon he’d be able to confess. He could do it any time now. He could do it  _ today.  _ Suddenly Lance felt a spike in his heart rate. It was real. He could really confess. A stupid grin spread across his face. He was going to do it today. 

He planned it out in his mind. At lunch he’d ask Keith to walk home with him and then he’d take him aside and tell him… Wow. Lance felt his whole body fill with butterflies, from the tips of his fingers to his toes. 

When lunch rolled around he tried to bring up his idea as casually as he could. “Hey, Keith.” He said, his mouth was for was clear of food. He hadn’t actually touched his food yet, he hated to admit it but he was nervous.

“Yeah?.” Keith replied.

“You wanna walk home with me after school today?.” He asked,  his heart in his throat.

“What about the bus?.” Keith asked, his head titled cutely to the side.

Lance shrugged in what he thought to be a nonchalant way. “I dunno I just kind of wanted to walk today. No real reason. Thought you might like to join me.” Lance took a sip of his capri-sun and tried to pretend he wasn’t trying to gauge Keith’s reaction.

He nodded. “Okay, why not?. A walk is always good.”

Lance celebrated inwardly. “Cool.”

The rest of the day took far longer to finish than Lance could deal with. His leg was nearly uncontrollable. He raced to his locker when the bell rang and hurried to meet Keith by his. Lance had to hold back from telling Keith to hurry because he had no excuse to make him. So he stood, trying not to tap his foot while he waited. Keith locked his locker and smiled at Lance. “Done.”

“Okay, let’s go.” He said, leading Keith out the school. He wanted to get it over and done with because doubts were beginning to creep into his mind. He wasn’t sure Keith liked him back after all. He knew Keith  _ liked  _ him but maybe not in the same way he liked Keith. But that wasn’t the reason he wanted to tell Keith how he felt. The real reason was because Lance was happy about liking him. He hadn’t had a crush on anyone in years and even if this one was unrequited he just wanted to be open and happy about it. It would just be a bonus if Keith liked him back. A great, big, huge bonus. 

“Lance?.” Keith said.

“What?.” Lance said, stopping in his tracks and looking at Keith.

“Are you sure you’re okay _?”  _ He seemed very worried and Lance furrowed his brow, why was he asking him that?. 

“Yeah. why?”

“It’s just... you’re walking really fast and you haven’t said anything for like ten minutes and usually you tell stories and stuff and I was wondering if it’s because of your nightmare?, you can tell me about it if you want.” Keith said, looking very serious.

Lance shook his head, smiling. “No, no. I’ fine really I was just thinking about stuff.”

“What stuff?.

No time like the present. “Keith.”

“Yeah?” He was beginning to look more and more confused.

“I wanted to tell you-”

_ Ding. _

“Hold on a sec.” Lance said, taking out his phone in case it was his mom worrying about him not being home the same time as usual. But it wasn’t. It was something much, much worse. His eyebrows knitted together as he read  _ unknown number. _

_ This is carter.  _ The first line read. He felt the warmness inside his heart turn cold and he shivered. This wasn’t going to be good.

_ Meet me at the bathrooms in the park near where i live. You better show up or you’ll regret it i can promise you that. _

“Shit.”

“What is it?.” Lance’s eyes snapped up. He’d forgotten Keith was even there. He couldn’t tell him now. He felt his heart sink. He could’ve cried. 

“N-nothing, just my mom. She needs me to go buy a few things so I have to go.” Lance said, feeling sick to his stomach. It was all twisted now. His day of happiness turned upside down. “Can you find your way home okay?.”

“Yes, but Lance, are you sure you’re okay?.”

“Yeah!.” He smiled and hoped it was a convincing one. “I just wished she’d asked me earlier is all. Well, i’d better go.”

“Alright. See you tomorrow.” Keith said, not looking like he was convinced by Lance’s act. 

“See you.” Lance called as he headed off in the other direction. The feeling of dread was growing in his stomach. As soon as Keith was out of his eyesight he got out his phone.

**Lance:** how did you get this number

**Carter:** not important. 

 

Lance thought it was kind of important. Lane thought it was  _ very  _ important. But he saw no use in trying to fight with Carter. Something in his gut and also the memory of his injuries made him think he should do as told.

 

**Lance:** when should i meet you

**Carter:** now

**Lance:** okay. 10 minutes.

**Carter:** you better show

 

Lance pocketed his phone and headed off towards the park. He’d never felt such dread while going to that park. He’d walked Rex there many times. He wished Rex was with him now, to distract him. Then again he was also glad he wasn’t. There was no telling what Carter might do to a dog. He hurried all the way. He didn’t want to get there but he also didn’t want to show up late because that would give Carter an excuse.

When the bathrooms (A small stone building) came into sight Lance swallowed his fear and tried to walk over there confidently. He valued his time with Keth  _ much  _ more than he valued not being hit. Though in the end he’d rather have both time with Keith and an uninjured body.

As he approached Carter appeared from behind the building. “Over here.” He stated before going back behind the building. Lance reluctantly followed. The building had a small alleyway behind it, it was connected to the wall that surrounded the park. It was was dark and damp. Carter was leaning on the farthest wall.

“I’m here.” Lance said, not sure what he  _ should  _ say in this situation. “What do you want with me.”   
“You know what I want with you fag.” Carter began, eloquently. “I fucking told you what would happen if you kept seeing Keith didn’t I?.”

“Yeah but-”

Carter grabbed him by his shirt and threw him against the wall. “Shut up!.” He growled. “I  _ told  _ you. I  _ gave  _ you a warning. “ He leaned into Lance’s face then laughed. A big sarcastic, powerful laugh. Lance frowned, unsure how to react. He stomped towards Lance, making him jump then  he continued laughing. “I’m not gonna hurt you…  _ much.”  _ He held his arm up and caught Lance’s arms, which had flown up to protect himself the he punched in in the stomach. Lance fell to his knees, winded. He coughed and spluttered, trying to get his breath back all the while Carter’s foot was pressing onto his back. 

He got his breath back and Carter shoved him onto his behind with his foot. “I can tell you don’t really hold your body’s welfare very high. So if you stick around Keith I won’t bother hurting you.” He said flippantly.

Lance got up, confused at Carter's change of heart. “Really?.”

He saw Carter smirk and he feared what was about to come next. “I won’t hurt you. I’ll hurt Keith.”

Lance’s mouth flopped open then closed. “You can’t fucking do that.”

“Can’t I?.”

“No!. You lay one of your dirty fucking fingers on Keith and I will  _ end  _ you. Hijo de tu puta madre!. Cabron!.” he couldn’t stop his flow of words, even the indication of him hurting Keith was enough to set him off. He felt fire in his soul and he thought he might end Carter. 

“You don’t scare me. Just stay away from Keith and he won't get hurt, yeah, easy?. So easy that even you, a fucking taco faggot could understand.”

“They fuck did you just say to me?” Lance said, puffing his chest out. His mind was beginning to ditch any sense he had. 

_ WHAM. _

Carter’s fist met his chest with such force that he stumbled back. “Don’t you understand, I’m bigger, stronger and better than you. Stay away from Keith and he won’t have to worry about anything. Got it?.”

“No. I can’t leave him alone.” He said staring into Carter’s eyes. He thought about how much their friendship seemed to mean to Keith. How much it meant to him. 

Carter sighed and shook his head. “You really don't get it do you. I live with Keith. I’m his foster brother. If i have a problem with him he’s out. Which is a real shame because he seemed to like my mother an awful lot.”

“I can’t... I- I promised.” He could feel his anger disappear and it was replaced with hopelessness he couldn’t think of anything else to do. 

“One more time. I’ll say it one more time.” He got right up into Lance’s face. “ _ Stop  _ being friends with Keith. Or. I. Will. Make. Him. Suffer. Okay?.”

Lance bit his lip. He had no way out. Carter had cornered him like a rabbit. He felt tears well up in his eyes as he opened his mouth. “Okay.” Carter pushed him down.

 

“That’s what I like to hear!. Good to hear you finally have some sense!. Don’t think i won’t be watching by the way.” He started to walk away. “Don’t mess up this time.”

Lance got up onto his knees, already crying. Scraped his fingers along the concrete and formed a fist. “FUCK.” He slammed his fist into the floor a few times, until it was grazed and bleeding. He couldn’t feel it. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” He put his hands to his face and the blood mixed with his tears. He lied down on the cold stone and cried. “I’m sorry.”


	13. All Alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> soooo..... I warned you about the angst didn't I???.... wellllll
> 
> [Shiro/allura eyes art I did](http://klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com/post/153838315676/ill-probably-do-more-of-these)

Lance sniffed hard and wiped his nose with his sleeve. His whole face felt heavy and wet. He’d been lying on the floor for coming up to ten minutes now and he thought he had better get himself together. It was hard though, because he couldn’t control his emotions right now. He felt awful. What could he do?. Nothing. He knew there was nothing to be done. Carter had the upper hand now, that’s why he was so upset. It would be better if he had something he could do to change what was about to happen but there wasn’t. There just wasn’t.

Lance got up and shivered. He hadn’t noticed how cold it was. The sky was grey and the clouds blanketed the sky. Lance thought it might rain. His face crumpled again and he shook it off. He scowled and balled his fists. He marched towards his home. He was sad but he was angry too, he was angry at carter, he was angry at the situation but most of all he was angry at himself for letting this happen. He couldn’t really rationalise why it was his fault but it was. It was.

When Lance got to his house he felt a drop on his neck, it had started raining. “Of course _. Of course _ it’s raining.” He hissed. He closed the door hard. If he had pushed with just the tiniest bit more strength it would have been a slam. 

“Lance?.” He heard his mother call. Her voice came and it was gentle and happy. He didn’t think seeing those emotions would help him right now.

He pretended he hadn’t heard and went upstairs. He loved his mother and he was sure he’d take it out on her even if he didn’t mean to. When he got into his room he kicked off his shoes and stripped down to his boxers before crawling into bed. He definitely didn’t feel like doing homework. Or anything at all for that matter.

There was a knock on his door. “Lance?.”

Again, he didn’t reply.

“Lance?.”

“Mierda!, what!?.” He sighed at himself.

She opened the door. “LAnce did I hear what I thought I heard?.” She asked.

“Mamá I’m tired.” He replied, snuggling deeper into his sheets. He just wanted to be alone and wallow right now.

Lance felt his mattress lean right as his mother sat down. “Are you feeling okay?.” She said, grabbing his foot, which was poking out of his duvet. It would have made him feel sentimental any other day. 

“I’m just tired. Okay?” It came out harsher than he intended and he sighed again. “Lo siento. I had a ba- long day, so I’m tired.”

She rubbed his foot. “I understand…” She said gently. “Would you like for me to order you pizza for dinner?.”

Lance, despite the situation, felt a small smile form on his face. “Yes.” He loved his mother. Dearly. 

“Pepperoni as always?.”

“Mm”

“Okay, I will bring it up to you later on. I will leave you alone, because you are a teenager and sometimes that’s just the way.” He felt his mattress spring back up as she got up. She patted his shoulder and pressed a kiss to it before she left.

He was drifting off when she came back. “Lance.” She said softly. “Buen Provecho.”

He sat up. “Thanks.” she nodded and left. She had bought him a 12 inch pepperoni, a can of coke and a cookie. He stuffed his face. Eating was a very distracting process, especially if you were watching youtube at the same time. It helped Lance forget, even it was only for a while. He ate all the pizza bar a single slice and downed his coke. He managed to finish it all off with the cookie. He actually felt at ease for a bit.

He got out of his bed and put on his dressing-gown then grabbed all his leftovers and headed downstairs to thank his mother. Wallowing could wait until after. He met her in the Kitchen. “Thank you.” He said quietly. His mom turned around and  grinned at him.

“No problem. Did you enjoy it?.” She asked as she took the pile of garbage from him.

“Yeah I did, very much.”

“Oh you only left one slice. Could you not eat it?.”

“No. I always leave one for lu-” Lance felt his entire body tense in realisation, he stopped himself but it was too late. The pile in his mother’s hands had crashed to the floor. “I’m sorry!, Mamá, lo siento  Mamá!.”

“No. está bien.” She crouched down to pick the things up, her face neutral.

“I’ll help-”

“Acostarse. Estoy bien. I’m fine.” But her shaking voice told the truth.

“Mamá, i’m sorry. I didn’t mean to-.”

“ _ Lance!”  _ she said, her eyes widening in warning. “Go. to. bed.”

Lance bit his lip and went to say something but he closed his mouth and his shoulders sank. He backed up a few steps then turned and went to his bedroom. “Fuck.” He felt tears well in his eyes and he buried his face into his pillow. He had crossed a line that he never intended to cross. Their shared pain was not to be discussed and he had slipped up. “Why now…” He muttered, once again feeling useless.

Lance hadn’t set his alarm the night before, having no intention of going to school the next day. If he was going to have to start avoiding Keith then it was better to go cold turkey for a few days. Maybe even a week if he could get away with it. His mother hadn’t come in to wake him that morning. He got up at around noon and wandered downstairs. She didn’t have work that day so Lance went to find her. He saw no sign of her and the car was gone. He checked the fridge, where she always left notes. Sure enough, he found a yellow post-it note stuck to the fridge door.

‘I will be back in a few days. Money on the counter.”

Now there was no-one to tell him he had to go to school. He took the note off the fridge, crumpled it up and threw it in the bin. The he sat on the floor and just felt empty for a while.

It was quiet. Lance hated the quiet. 

_ Ping _ .

He looked at his phone. It was hunk.

**Hunk:** what’s up?, you sick?.

Lance debated whether or not he should reply. He hadn’t thought about it much but he just now realised he’d have to start avoiding Hunk too. He felt a sting in his heart. He spun his phone around on the cold tiles and it made a scraping sound.

**Lance:** yeah. Sick.

Lance locked his phone after that and decided that this message would be the last he sent to Hunk. He tucked his legs up to his chest and let the cold floor drain the heat from his body.

The next day he received another text from Hunk. 

**Hunk:** R you still sick???, what’s wrong with you?.

He was lying in his bed in the dark of his room reading it over and over. Hunk cared. Hunk cared for things more than anybody Lance had ever known. He slid his phone to the other side of his bed. He turned over. He received a few more messages after that and even though he tried not to he couldn’t help but read them.

**Hunk:** srsly you okay??

And two hours later;

**Hunk:** me and Keith are worried. 

He clenched his fist when he read that one. He let his phone die and pulled his blanket over his head. His mother would probably be home tomorrow so he only had one day left to hide then he would have to blatantly ignore them or it meant carter would hurt Keith. Lance wasn’t going to have that.

There was a knock on his door at 4:55. Lance knew because for the best part of that day he’d been watching the time pass on the clock in his living room. He’d been finding it strangely easy to be still lately. When the knock sounded out he didn’t believe it at first, they never got visitors. When it sounded again he edged over to his window and peeked out. Hunk and Keith were standing outside his door. His heart raced.

“Maybe he’s not even here.” He heard Hunk suggest to Keith.

“But why wouldn’t he tell us if he left!?” Keith retorted, pushing past Hunk and banging on the door. Hunk pulled him back.

“Stop, don’t break his door down.” He dropped his arm. “Honestly Keith I really don’t think he’s here, I mean why wouldn’t he answer the door if he was… maybe he went somewhere and his phone died.”

“You don’t think he’s at the hospital again do you?.” Keith asked, his voice nearly shaking.

“No… No.” Lance saw Hunk shake his head and he felt awful. He wanted to burst outside and tell them he was fine and it was a joke or something, but he couldn’t. Because this wasn’t a joke. It was real. He leaned against the wall and slid down slowly. He couldn’t. “I think we should go home today and see if he comes to school tomorrow. If he doesn’t then we’ll come back, okay?.”

“But!..” there was silence and even without seeing he could imagine the look Hunk was giving Keith very clearly. “..Okay.” He heard their footsteps against the path. He held onto the sound until it disappeared. It took all the strength he had not to run out to them. He put his head on his knees.

The next day Lance walked to school, trying to make sure he was late enough that he wouldn’t have a chance to speak to either Keith or Hunk but not so late as to be tardy. It was an art he was going to have to master. He got into the classroom just before the teacher did and slid into a seat at the back of the class. He didn’t look over to the left where he knew Hunk and Keith were. “Lance!.” He heard Keith call in a hushed tone. He dug his nails into the side of the desk and kept his eyes forward.

He could feel their eyes on him the entire way through the class. He was leaning on his left hand and pretending not to notice. He knew both Keith and Hunk knew he was faking but this was the best he could do.

Lance had his bag packed before the bell went and tore out of the classroom when it went off. He made it away without either of the others stopping him. He sighed in relief. “I’m gonna have to move school.” He said, his voice catching in his throat a little as he realised that it may be true.

He got away with his tactic, he wasn’t sure how, until the  end of the day when they cornered him on his way home. He was looking down and stopped as their shoes came into view. Keith’s dirty red converse and Hunk’s worn brown boots. “You’ll miss the bus.” He said, brushing past them.

He felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Hunk. “What’s up with you, buddy?. You’ve been ignoring us all day.”

Lance didn’t want to make eye-contact, he knew it would ba painful. But he flicked his head up, like ripping off a bandaid. He had to take a deep breath. He had  _ highly  _ underestimated how painful it would be. They looked hurt and confused. “I…” He said, looking from one to the other. “I have to go home.”

“ _ Lance. _ ” Hunk pleaded, both with his words and his expression. “Please, just tell us why. I’m sure-” He said, shaking his head in what only could be described as a total disbelief in the situation. “- That this is  just a silly misunderstanding or something, right.”

Lance’s head shook slowly. He pushed off Hunk’s firm grip from his shoulder. “I have to go home now. Goodbye.” He felt his heart physically break as he said it. He was looking directly into Hunk’s eyes. He saw Hunk tense up, Hunk’s mouth opened to talk but closed again. Lance  looked at Keith then. It seemed as if he were either about to cry or shout at him. He didn’t do either. Lance walked away before he cracked. Before he told them everything. Before he let Carter win.

He could do this. For Keith.

When Lance got home he could smell his mother's cooking. Usually it was a smell that made him feel warm and homely, especially with how rare it was for her to cook these days. She probably felt guilty for going away again.

“Lance?.” she called. “Come here!, I’m trying some Korean food.”

He stood in front of his stairs and stared up them, he wanted nothing more than to go to bed. He threw his bag to the floor and put on his happy face. “Hi Mamá.” He said, in the cheeriest tone he could manage.

She was stood in front of a frying pan filled with what looked like a red sauce. Her thick black hair was tied back into a tight ponytail and she was wearing an apron. “Ddeokbokki!.” She announced, gesturing at the pan. It didn’t look like much at that moment. “Come and help your Mamá cook, mijo.” she said, stroking his cheek. He really wished he’d gone upstairs then.

“Okay.” He mumbled.  _ I want to go to bed.  I want to go to bed.  I want to go to bed.  I want to go to bed.  _ Was what Lance’s mind was chanting as he made half-hearted conversation with his mother. That was, until he began to kind of enjoy it. Chopping the ingredients was actually quite relaxing and therapeutic. He got into a rhythm, cutting along to the music his mom was playing. It was some spanish channel that reminded him of his childhood, when he used to stand on a chair and help her, an oversize apron on to keep his clothes clean. He remembered that she used to sing, out loud and proud, she had been good too.

A while later, they sat at the table eating their creation. Lance likes it and ate it quickly. It was his first proper meal in the days she was gone. “That was lovely.” He said, pushing the plate away and leaning back in his cahri. His belly pushed against his jeans, the sign of a good meal.

“Yes!, It’s great!.” His mother nodded, covering her small mouthful with her hand. She swallowed it and put her hands on the table. “Lance I need to talk with you.” She said, her face serious.

Lance panicked, had she discovered that he’d skipped the last few days?. He wished it had been that.

“I think you should come with me next time.” She said. “Back home.”

Lance stood up, his chair clattering against the floor. He did it without thinking. “I- I’m sorry.” He said to her, walking out of the room.

“Lance, please it’s nearly been a year and you never-.” He covered his ears and ran upstairs. Nothing could ever just be as it was. He wanted everything clean cut. But life never seemed to conform with what he wanted. Never.

Lance fell asleep after that. He was having a range of emotions that he simple didn’t want to deal with at that moment, so he shut his mind down with a nap. It was dark when he was awoken by the sound of knocking. At first he thought it was his mom at his door, but the knock wasn’t on wood… it was glass?. There was someone at his window. He sat up and rubbed his eyes. He was groggy from his nap. He threw his legs over the side of the bed and waited for the sound again. 

It came but this time louder. He checked his clock. 23:36. “What the fuck.” He got up and peeked through his curtains, forgetting himself. It could only be Keith or Hunk and his just-awake state he forgot what had happened. He realised just as he made eye contact with the person on the roof under his window. That person being a wide-eyed Keith.

“Lance!.” He exclaimed. He might have been there for a while. Lance closed the curtain and cursed himself. 

“Lance?.” Keith said, his first rapping softly on the window. “Why’d you go in?. Let me in.”

Lance sat on the chair beside his window and pressed his hands to his face. He could already feel tears welling up in his eyes. “I want to.” He whispered to himself. And oh god did he want to. He wanted to throw that window open and pull Keith inside and apologise to him and hug him and tell him how he felt and then kiss him. But all he could do was sit. Sit and listen.

“Lance, Hunk told me to let you be but I can’t. why are you doing this?, I thought we were friends now?, you said you wouldn’t leave me.” Lance felt his heart begin to tear. Keith was waiting for an answer, but an answer wasn’t going to come. It couldn’t. “ I- I know this is my fault but I don’t know what I did. Please tell me what I did wrong, i’m sorry Lance. I’m sorry.”

Lance felt tears leak out from his eyes and slowly down his hands. Keith thought it was his fault. 

“This isn’t an excuse but I’m not used to how friends do things so can you tell me what I did wrong?. Lance?. Are we still friends?....” Lance heard Keith’s voice waver at the last question, it was as if with each word he was driving a sword deeper into Lance’s core. “Were we ever friends?, did i get it wrong?, is that why you won’t talk to me?. Lance?.” 

There was a weak knock against the window. “Is this it then?. Are we done?.” Keith paused. Lance didn’t reply. “It was f-fun while it lasted.” Keith stuttered. Then he said something that Lance couldn't hear and left. 

Lance peeked through the curtains and watched him disappear into the night. “I love you.” he said, his breath fogging up the cold glass. He let his forehead lean against the pane. “I love you.”


	14. It's Complicated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to say a big huge thank you for you guys' response over the last week! It was amazing to read all the comments even if it was just you guys hating on me for what I did to the boiz haha (again sorry) (Also sorry for this chapter....)

Lance could tell by now that both Keith and Hunk had accepted that he wasn’t talking to them anymore. There had been a few more instances where they’d tried to talk to him but Lance iced them out and they had, eventually, gotten the message. That didn’t mean they had completely stopped trying, they both still occasionally said things to him, like ‘c’mon Lance, why don’t you join us for lunch?’ or a casual ‘wanna come to my house?.’ but he’d always decline. He’d do it without words too, shaking his head and quickly going away for fear he’d react or break. He’d never used so much of his concentration power before and it was taking a toll on him. His homework, which hadn’t been too good or bad was beginning to slip into ‘bad’ territory. His eye’s had constant bags under them and he went to sleep as soon as he got home.

He was lonely.

He would sit in his bed and Keith’s copy of ‘Great expectations’ would glare back at him. He’d only gotten through the first few chapters but couldn’t bear to read it anymore. He thought of going to give it back to Keith but he didn’t think he could accomplish that without crying. So he kept it there on his shelf. It’s tattered edge poking out like a thorn on a withered rose. 

Inside of the book was the note Keith had written him at the hospital. ‘I had fun yesterday - Keith’. He remembered the words exactly. He could even see the writing in his mind, barely legible, rushed and scrawled. He wanted to throw it away, but he just couldn’t. 

He turned his mind to the comedy movie he’d been watching. He hadn’t laughed properly in the three weeks he’d been avoiding them. He loved to laugh. He knew he missed them, he missed their company and their personalities and the distraction they gave him from _ other things.  _ Now, he stayed awake during nights and slept when he got home, which meant he had plenty of time to dwell on things while he sat awake. He was brutally aware of how fast christmas was approaching. He hated christmas.

Lance sighed and watched his breath appear in front of him. He was walking home, his bag straining on his back and his feet dragging along the pavement. He hadn’t taken the bus in weeks. 

“Lance!.” The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and a chill went up his spine. He knew that voice. Carter. He froze on the spot unsure of what to do. He clenched his fist then sighed and unclenched it. He turned around. He was grinning a smug grin. It took all Lance had not to hit him right in his dumb fucking skull. “Carter.” He said with zero emotion.

“I saw you walking and I thought to myself, ‘oh there’s that faggot Lance, I better go talk to him’.” Lance nearly rolled his eyes but instead just stared on. There wasn’t anything Carter could do to hurt him any more. 

He looked slightly put off by the lack of reaction Lance had. Small victories eh?. “- so you’ve been doing your task very well.” He said. “Keith’s been talking about how you won’t talk to him so that’s great. Apparently you really hurt the poor little guy’s feelings.”

Lance gripped his jeans. “Can’t you just fu- leave me alone?. I did what you asked…”

“I can do whatever _ the fuck _ I want. When you understand that things will be much easier for you.” He said this while he stepped towards Lance, showing the power he had over him.

Lance wanted to punch him. He wanted so bad to see his face bloody and bruised. He wanted him to suffer. “I know.”

“Really?, do you?.” He asked, raising an eyebrow. Without warning he lunged for ward and shoved Lance backwards. He stumbled but, for once, didn’t fall.

“Why can’t you just FUCK OFF.” He yelled, his vision going red. He inhaled quickly, trying to calm down. His patience was wearing thin.

“There’s that Latino passion I know.”

“Puto.” Lance seethed. He hated that carter thought he could go there and Lance just had to take it.

“What’s that?.” he asked, his tone unchanging. “I don’t speak taco.”

“You motherfucker.” That was it. Lance’s temper was too short from everything to handle this. He barreled forward and elbowed Carter’s stomach. He doubled over and Lance realised himself. His hands unclenched and his mouth fell open. He took his chance and ran in the other direction. In this game of fight or flight, flight would be his only chance.

He sped off, he was too far away from home to make it there before Carter caught him. His mind raced, his heart pumped. For the first time in a long time, he felt alive. A strange smile spread across his face. Really he was in danger of being beaten up again. But he couldn’t find the energy to care. Nothing really mattered. 

“Lance you fucker!.” He heard in the near distance, maybe around the corner. He didn’t chance looking back.

“Carter you fucker!”. He yelled back. Then he laughed a weird, choppy, mid-run laugh.  He spotted an alleyway and ducked inside.

“Lance!” He heard Carter scream. He passed in a whoosh of colour and his sound disappeared into the distance.

Lance laughed to himself and caught his breath. He looked around and deja-vu took over. He knew this place. Oh. This was the exact place where he’d first met Keith. He leaned against the wall and remembered how frightened Keith had been. Carter was dangerous. That's why Lance was doing this, because some sick part of Carter enjoyed seeing Lance in pain and if that kept Keith safe then he’d do anything it took.

Suddenly he heard his phone buzz. He took it out of his pocket, it was an unknown number. He frowned, he rarely even  _ got  _ calls let alone unknown ones. He answered it, thinking it must be his mom. “Hello?.”

“Lance.” it was Hunk. “ _ Don’t  _ hang up. We need to talk, just me and you, no Keith.” Lance kept the phone to his ear but didn’t answer. “Come to my house tomorrow after school. If you don’t come i’ll leave it but this is important. Please. You owe it to me.”  _ click.  _

“Mierda.” Lance knew he shouldn’t go. He  _ knew  _ it. But the words ‘ _ You owe it to me _ ’ rang through his ears. He did. He did owe it to Hunk. He decided he would go, but not for long. As long as Keith wasn’t there then it was fine.

He pulled on his bag straps and headed home. He rushed though, he didn’t want Carter finding him. He made it, thankfully. He shut himself in his room when he got home. He needed to mentally prepare himself for tomorrow. He would go. He wasn’t sure what face he should make when he saw Hunk, or what he should say. All he knew is he owed it to Hunk. And Hunk had said it was important. That could mean a number of things. Lance didn’t dare try and imagine what it  _ did  _ mean. He didn’t need to add more worry to his load.

When Lance got to school the next day he was hyper-aware of Hunk and Keith. He always noticed them- how could he not?. But he had gotten used to not talking to them. To hearing their conversations and not joining in. To seeing them in the cafeteria and eating elsewhere. To being on the fringes while they were in the throng. To being alone. Today though he observed them, trying to guess what was up. He couldn’t come up with anything, try as he might to overhear something relevant.

The end of the school day came before Lance could figure out just what was so important to Hunk. He followed them out of the school at a distance. They got the bus. He watched it head off. He tried not to overthink it as he walked to Hunk’s house. He tapped his fingers against his pants and blared music into his ears, trying to fill his mind with something other than thought. It didn’t work. His brain was working overtime. He made it to Hunks house and took out his earphones. He approached the door. Now it was decision time. If he went in that was it, decision made. This was his last chance to turn around. He lifted his hand to knock and held it in front of the door. 

He could feel his heartbeat everywhere. He hadn’t been this nervous in a long time. His hand began to lower and he stepped backwards when the door opened. It was Hunk. Lance gulped. He thought back to when he’d taken Keith here to become friends with Hunk, he understood how he must’ve felt back then, because now he felt sick.

Hunk used his thumb to gesture inside and opened the door wider for Lance. Hunk stood back tol et Lance in. He glanced behind him. He could still leave. He stepped inside and Hunk closed the door. Hunk waved his hand at the stairs wordlessly and Lance took the hint and went up to Hunk’s room. He walked inside and then turned to face Hunk. 

Hunk came in and slowly closed the door then stared at Lance. “Sit down.”

Lance backed up and sat down on Hunk’s bed. “Why did you ask me to come?.” Lance asked. “What’s so important?.”

“You.” Hunk said.

Lance sighed. “Me?.”

“Yeah you.” Hunk said, his face becoming an angry one. “What’s wrong with you?.”

“There- there’s nothing wrong with me Hunk-” he said getting up, his mind telling him to get out now before he broke.

“Sit down.” Lance obliged, not knowing why because his head was telling him to leave. “If there isn’t anything wrong with you then why haven’t you been talking to me and Keith for weeks?.” He asked. “Has it got something to do with what you wouldn’t tell us at the hospital before?.”

“No. NO. It’s complicated Hunk. you’d understand if I could tell you, I  _ promise _ you, you would understand but I can’t tell you because that’d mess everything up. It’ sjust too risky.”

“If i’d understand if you told me, then just tell me.” He said, shaking head and waving his arms up in exasperation.

“I can’t Hunk. trust me I can’t.” Lance said, feeling trapped.

“I don’t get it Lance… we were friends since day one, day freaking one!.” He said, biting his lip. “Then Keith came along and things... “ Lance saw tears start to form in Hunk’s eyes. “Things were even better when Keith joined us, we had fun didn’t we?. A lot of fun right?.”

Lance nodded, fearing if he spoke then he might start to cry. 

“You brought Keith into our mix and I tried to stop you but it ended up being even more fun. Much more fun than I thought I could have at a new school.” Hunk said. “I was so glad when you became my friend Lance. I couldn’t have been more lucky.”

“Neither could I.” Lance said, just about keeping himself from choking up. It was getting harder and harder by the second.

“Then why are you acting like this?, I know you like us. I  _ know  _ you like Keith because  _ you  _ were the one so hell bent on bringing him into our circle. Wait-” Hunk’s eyes widened and he gasped a little.

“What?.” Lance asked he hadn’t meant for it to come out but it did.

“It’s Keith.” He said.

He said it like a fact, but it was a fact that Lance didn't know. Lance furrowed his brow and crossed his arms. “What’s Keith!?” He asked.

“He’s the- you.” Hunk stopped himself and shook his head. “It’s because you love him, you're avoiding us because you love him!”

Lance’s mouth fell open. “NO.” He said, but a blush rose on his cheeks at being caught out.

“That’s it, you love him!, It’s so obvious you totally do, how didn't I notice!?.”

“Hunk.” Lance warned.

“I can’t believe you-.”

“I DON’T FUCKING LOVE KEITH.” He bellowed, not meaning for it to come out so loud. “I don’t fucking-

“ _ Lance _ ”

“-love him I  _ never _ -”

“ _ Lance!.” _

“-loved him and I  _ NEVER _ -”

“LANCE!” 

“WILL!”

CRASH. 

Lance blinked. Hunk’s wardrobe door creaked through the silent room. Keith stood in front of it, tears pouring down his cheeks. He was shaking. 

“ _ Keith”  _ Lance said, his eyes already beginning to blur. “I-”

Their locked eyes for one terrible second before Keith bolted for the door. Lance quickly went after him but Hunk pulled him back by the wrist and held him by the shoulders. His face was stony. He had never seen a more serious look on Hunk’s face before. He could hear Keith leave through the front door.

“Hunk!-”

“Look at me Lance this is important.” He said. Lance looked into Hunk’s eyes. “Good. Do you love Keith?.”

“I…” Lance said, not sure what to say. His mind was all a blur.

“Do you love Keith?.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake  _ yes!.”  _ Lance said, one tear escaping from his eye. It felt so liberating to say it. To shout it. It made it real.

“What’s the  _ real  _ reason you avoided us?.” Hunk asked.

“Hunk I really should go after-” his eyes going to the door.

“ _ Lance. _ ” His attention was grabbed again.

“Carter.” He said “Keith’s foster brother. He threatened to hurt Keith if I didn’t leave him be. He said I was turning him gay.” Lance bit his lip. “He said he’d hurt him.” Lance repeated. “And he’s huge.”

Hunk nodded. “I knew there was a good explanation. Carter can fuck off. This is important Lance, It hurt us, so much, to not have you with us. Keith blamed himself,  _ I  _ blamed myself. Listen i’m sure Keith would rather anything than not have you by his side. Okay?”

Lance was on the very edge of crying then. “Yeah. I’ve got it.”

Hunk pulled him into a tight hug. Lance hugged him back. They parted and Hunk smiled at him.  “Good, now go after Keith. And Lance?.”

“Yeah?.”

“Tell him how you feel for god’s sake, there’s no way he doesn’t feel the same.  _ No way _ .” He smiled gently and gave him an encouraging push on the back.

Lance nodded. He ran out of Hunk’s room. At this moment whatever Carter had said didn’t matter anymore. He needed to find Keith and tell him the truth. The truth about his behaviour. The truth about his love. Maybe even the truth about his past.


	15. I can-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'M SORRY. I WARNED YOU. h-hope you enjoy...

Lance burst out of Hunk’s front door. His head whipped from side to side, trying to find some sign of which direction Keith went. He found none. He took off in the direction of Keith’s house. Keith was a fast runner, he knew that well. He could have gone anywhere in the five minutes head start he’d been given. 

Lance remembered phones existed and pulled his from his pocket he fumbled with it and called Keith’s number. His hope held onto the beeps. “ _ fuck. _ ” He hissed when it clicked. He called again. No answer. “Goddamnit.” He called again and again, each time hoping the beep would reveal a voice on the other end. But it didn’t. He shoved his phone into his pocket and concentrated on getting to Keith’s house. He sprinted all the way there, his legs forgetting to feel tired.

He got to the door and felt like kicking it down but held back and knocked instead. There was no answer. “ _ Hello! _ ” he yelled, craning to look into the frosted windows by the door. “HELLO!.” He knocked again. A figure appeared in the warped glass. He knew instantly it wasn’t Keith. Neither was it his foster mom.

Carter opened the door and smirked at lance. “Really fucked it up now haven’t ya Lance-y poo?.”

“Carter I don’t have time for this shit.  _ where  _ is Keith?.” he asked, glaring into Carter’s dark brown eyes and hating every inch of him.

“Well, That’s not very-” He pushed past Carter, he was helping. He didn’t seem all that bothered for once. 

Lance ran up to Keith’s bedroom. It was a mess. Not an endearing conspiracy mess like it had been before.  _ No.  _ this time all his papers and red yarn was on the ground, like he’d just ripped everything down and thrown it there. Keith was upset. Really upset. “What have I done?.” Lance whispered to himself. His panicked state was increasing by the second. In the corner of the room he spotted an empty water bottle. The one he’d given him what seemed like years ago. The wrapper had been torn off and the bottle was crushed.

“Sad right?.” Lance whipped around. Carter was leaning in the door frame, a superior look on his face. “He was in here crying and ripping everything down. There was paper flying everywhere, you know that conspiracy bullshit he’s into?.” He snorted. “I asked him what was up and he just looked at me like his poor widdle heart was broken.”

“Shut up.” Lance seethed. He had too many emotions right now to deal with Carter.

He shrugged. “I thought  _ ‘now what could have hurt him so much that he acted like this? _ ’ and then I remembered, ‘ _ oh yeah, Lance _ .’ See, this is what happens when you get involved. I warned you didn’t I?.” He shook his head, smirking.

“Where is he Carter?.” Lance asked, trying to keep his voice at a neutral level and ignoring what Carter was saying.

“He told me what happened in the end though- shouted it at me actually- didn’t know you had it in you to say that awful  _ awful  _ stuff.” He tutted. “And people think  _ I’m  _ bad.”

“Carter, I  _ have  _ to find him!” Lance shouted, his willingness to be patient starting to fade.

“Ah,” He said shrugging. “That’s a shame because you actually  just missed him by a few seconds...”

“Where did he go?.” Lance asked, he was beginning to get  _ really angry. _ He had to keep his head. It was important now, dire, that he kept his cool.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” Carter said flippantly, with a shrug.

Lance went to leave. “But-” Lance stopped. “He  _ did  _ take an entire bottle of my mom's vodka with him.”

“Why the fuck didn’t you stop him?.” Lance asked. He could feel his hand begin to shake. This was bad. Really bad.

“Well, I didn’t think it was my problem really.”

“You’re a fucking-”

Carter grabbed him by the shirt and lifted him, Lance’s phone clattered to the ground. “I’m a fucking  _ what?.”  _  Lance took a deep breath and kept eye-contact. “Yeah. Thought not. I’m the one in charge here.” He let him go without care.

“I’ll find him, even without your help, puto.” Lance spat, leaving swiftly.

“Fine!” Carter yelled after him. “But I suggest you hurry, he’d already started drinking when I came in.” Lance heard Carter’s laughter echo after him until he made it out onto the street.

Lance hadn’t a clue where to go next, nowhere came to mind. Then he remembered the first place they, met. He took off. Images were rushing through his mind. Keith with vodka. Anything could happen. He’d never drunk  _ anything  _ before. “ _ Keith.”  _ Lance said to himself, trying to reassure himself that he’d be fine. Because if he wasn’t around what was the point. Life couldn’t take everything. Or could it?.

The alley was much further out then Lance remembered. His legs were straining to keep up with how fast Lance wanted to go. His lungs and heart were working overtime. He collapsed against the wall of the alleyway, his breaths coming in fast and coarse. At first look he wasn’t there. Lance took a second to catch his breath then used the wall as leverage as he walked down the length of the alleyway. He hoped against hope that Keith was tucked up behind the industrial bins at the very back. “Keith!” He called. “ _ Keith.”  _

He got over and peered behind. His knees gave out underneath him. There was nothing there. It was empty. “Fuck.” Lance cried. He was desperate now, he couldn’t stop himself from worrying anymore. Any number of things could've happened to Keith by now. He needed Hunk on the search too. He reached for his phone. 

“Shit.”

It wasn’t there. How could It not be there??. His arm flopped down as he realised. He had dropped it in Keith’s room. “Okay. okay.” He said to himself, his voice came out in waves and his hands were shaking. “Where would he go. Where would he go. Where would he go?.” Lance tried to think of places he knew Keith went. Then for no particular reason, his brain flashed an answer. Keith’s favourite place. The library by his school. It was five minutes away. 

Lance stood up, took a deep breath and legged it. Before he even began his body was calling for him to stop, but he couldn’t. Not now. Not when he was so close. 

He was running like he had blinders on, no-one in his periphery mattered. No-one. He ran past each and every person, their faces didn’t register. The people yelling at him to slow down he barely even heard. The pain he felt in his head, chest, lungs, brain, legs, arms and his heart blurred and dulled until there was only one thing on Lance’s mind.

Keith.

When the library came into sight he let out a weird nervous giggle, the smallest bit happy that it was actually real. He approached, slowing down the slightest bit. He couldn’t run on adrenalin forever. 

As he came closer he saw a face peek over the rooftop, which was flat and surrounded by a knee high wall. There was no doubt in Lance’s mind that the face was Keith’s. “I’d know that mullet anywhere.” He murmured to himself. 

He spotted some fire escape stairs that led to the top, he went for them. At the foot of the stairs lay a phone. It was Keith’s. Lance picked it up and looked at the screen. There was a crack down the middle but the screen was still readable. He saw his name. Quickly, as he went labouriously up the stairs, he read the messages.

**Lance:** i cant belive you thought i like you that whole time

**Lance:** hunk too. He was in on it

**Keith:** why?

**Lance:** why??

**Lance:** because you're a loser

**Lance:** because it was easy

**Lance:** because i COULD

Lance clutched the phone. Carter was evil. He was evil. He reached the top. The wind was blowing Keith’s hair around like a black cloak in a storm. He was stood facing out towards the world. One hand was on the wall and the other clutching a half empty bottle of vodka. 

“Keith!” Lance yelled. Keith turned around as he ran a few more feet forward until there was about eight feet between them.

“Stop.” Keith said. Slowly he stood up onto the wall and Lance felt his stomach drop. He took a swig from the bottle and his face crumpled at the taste.

“Keith!, what’re you doing?.” Tears pricked the sides of his eyes. He inched closer. “Come down from there now!.”

“I’m tired Lance.” He said, he had a peculiar smile on his face. There were tears streaming down his face. “I’ve spent my whole life being left.  _ Abandoned.  _ And when you came along I thought  _ hey, why don’t you give this guy a chance?’  _ why?. Because you left me too.”

“Keith I can-” Lance stepped forward, his arms stretched outwards.

“No. I won’t listen.” Keith said, he let the bottle go from his hands and it plunged downwards to the street. Lance didn’t see the bottle hit the ground. He heard it through, the noise cut through his heart like a cold steel knife. It meant this was real. This was dangerous.

“Keith listen to me-” 

“Lance. I don’t want to be abandoned anymore.” He lifted one foot from the wall and smiled at Lance. A creepy, ridged smile. An unnatural one. He held his arms out like an acrobat on a beam, but his trick wasn’t to balance.

“KEITH!, NO!. KEITH.” Lance screamed, the shout coming from his deepest core and ripping from his body.

“Goodbye.”

Keith wobbled backwards and Lance lunged forward.

  
  


The world couldn't take everything. Or could it?.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To cheer you up maybe you should take a look at the happy/fluff klance fic I wrote the other day [ "I found your smile in the rain"](http://archiveofourown.org/works/8810725)


	16. All This time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HMMMMM. It gets darker again. btw i've added new tag warnings just in case!, be careful i love you!! <3
> 
> On a lighter note!, [anetteloli](http://anetteloli.tumblr.com/) has made [ some awesome fanart for this fic!!](http://anetteloli.tumblr.com/post/154725362068/a-fan-art-for-in-the-shape-of-a-boy-fic-by) everyone go look at it!!!, it's amazing and i'm in love with it and I could go on.... and on... and on....

Time stopped. Before him, Lance saw everything. He saw Keith’s eyes as they widened in fear and realisation of what he’d just done. He saw the locks of his hair whip around in the wind. He saw his hand in front of him, inches from Keith. He saw the end.

Then, Lance felt the fabric of Keith’s shirt in his fingers. With all his might he tugged.  Keith came towards him. He pushed his foot off the wall and flung himself and Keith backwards. He wrapped his arms around Keith this waist and fell onto his back. He gasped, winded.

He hugged Keith tightly to his body and burst into tears. “I’m sorry!. I’m sorry.” He wailed squeezing Keith as close to him as he could.

Keith pushed him away and  kneeled up facing Lance. “What the fuck are you saying!, I don’t understand you!.” Keith’s strange peaceful smile was gone and he was crying too. 

“Those messages weren’t me they were Carter!, this was  _ all Carter.”  _ He yelled, trying to get everything out at once.

“What the hell has Carter got to do with this? you’ve never even met him!.” Keith yelled, his hands on his head. “What’re you even talking about right now!?.”

Lance looked at the confused and desperate look on Keith’s face. Lance needed to calm himself down first or he wouldn’t be able to get Keith to listen, or even to understand him. He gripped his jeans and took a deep breath.

“Shh.” Lance said, cupping Keith’s cheek with his hand. “I’ll explain, so just listen, okay.”

“Okay.” Keith said, his face a mixture of anger and confusion. “I’ll listen.”

“A few weeks ago… Carter jumped me in an alleyway. And gave me that bruise on my eye that I told you was from playing pokemon go,” Keith frowned. Lance bit his lip. “He told me to avoid you or he’d hurt me again. I didn’t. It was all going fine for a few weeks and I thought that’d be it. But it wasn’t. He found out my number and told me I had to meet up with him… That was the day we were walking home together… remember?.”

“I remember, and it looked like something was up.” Keith said, irritated.

“There was. Anyway, I met him and it got kinda.. Well he hit me again, this time not in the face. I told him I couldn’t do what he was asking. But then…. Then he changed the game. He said he’d hurt you.” Lance looked into Keith’s eye’s. “And-” tears started to pour from his eyes. “And I couldn’t bear the thought of that.”

Keith looked like he was fighting over what emotion to feel. “You should've told me.” he hit Lance lightly on the shoulder, a frail punch that was almost endearing. “You should’ve  _ told me.”  _ His face crumpled and he put his hands to them and began to cry. Properly cry, his shoulders racked With sobs.

“There’s something else I need to tell you.” Lance said.

“Yeah?.”

“I love you.” He said, saying it felt so natural and  _ right  _ that he felt he needed to smile, which he did, until he saw the face Keith was making. His eye’s were wide and he looked horrified.

“Keith, It’s okay now, it’s okay. ” Lance said softly. “We’ll figure something out, won’t we?. Listen to me, I love you”

“Lance. You can’t love  _ me. _ ” Keith said. He said ‘me’ like it was the worst thing he could say. He looked up, his face was pink, blotchy and wet. “It won’t ever be okay…”

“What do you mean?.” Lance asked desperately, almost laughing in a strange way. “Of course it will.”

“I’m messed up.” He choked out. “He  _ did  _ hurt me Lance. He did.”

“What?.” Lance asked. His brain barely registering what he was saying even though at that moment it was the only thing he was concentrating on. “What did he do to you?.”

Keith didn’t say anything. He just cried. 

“What did he do to you?.” Lance asked again. “Did he hit you?.”

“N-no.” Keith stammered. “He’d take me to that place in the park…. behind the bathrooms… you know it.” 

Lance knew it well. That dark damp alleyway he’d laid on the floor after saying he wouldn’t see keith anymore. “Yeah.”

“So many times he…” Keith was digging the heels of his hands into his eyes. Too many tears were coming out. “He made me  _ do  _ things with him…. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I’m dirty.”

Lance’s thoughts stopped. He couldn’t feel anything. Keith was crying in front of him, having kept this secret for god knows how long. Nothing was passing through him, until, suddenly he felt everything at once. “ _ Bastard.”  _ Lance cried _. “That bastard.”  _ If he had been there Lance would’ve murdered him. He felt his whole body shaking with pure intent to kill. He looked down tightened hands and he felt sick.

Lance turned his full attention to Keith, trying to suppress his hatred for Carter. “Keith listen to me, this isn’t your fault.”

“B-but I could have-”

“There isn’t anything you could have done. He’s a scary guy. Keith, I’m in love you with you and he got me to stay away from you. Do you know how  _ hard  _ that was?. He’s manipulative and clever and strong. Nobody stands a chance against him. But no more.  _ No more.  _ You’re staying at my house. You’re never going back there.” Lance pulled Keith into a hug. “I love you. To me, you’re perfect. Okay?.”

They held eye contact until Keith’s eyes drifted, staring into the distance as if he was empty. And maybe he was. He nodded slowly and let out a weak. “Okay _. _ ” If the wind had been any bit stronger he may not have heard it at all.

They sat there in the cold wind until Keith had calmed down, his sobs turning into gentle intakes of breath and then into nothing. After that Lance used his sleeve to wipe Keith’s eyes and, softly, he kissed him on the cheek. Then he stood up and placed Keith’s arm over his shoulder and, together, they walked to his house.

Before they knew it, the sky dulled from light blues to dull greys then finally, to black. There were no stars in the sky that night. Only looming black clouds and a dull grey circle where the light of the moon clawed through.

There were no words between them as they made their way to Lance’s home. Lance knew he would cry again if he spoke and he was sure Keith was tired. He had been through a hell of a lot and not just today. When they finally got to his house he took Keith upstairs to the spare bedroom and gave him some pyjamas. He helped him to change. He was out of it now and looked ready to pass out.

As he turned off the light he heard Keith’s voice. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” He said back, he hesitated before he left, opening his mouth and shutting it again. He closed the door and stared at it blankly for a moment. Then he felt a tear escape his right eye. He wiped it away roughly. But it wasn’t working. He went to the bathroom. He sat on the edge of his bath then, before he knew it, he was throwing up. He was gripping his stomach and sputtering until everything was out.

He was sickened to his core. How had he not seen this was happening to Keith, how did he not seen how much pain he was in?.

Carters face came into his mind and he threw up again. The acid burned his throat and mouth.  He wiped it away. He sat up on the bath again. He felt a little better. A little. He caught his eye in the mirror. He looked awful. His eye’s were puffed up and red and his face was tear-stained. He blew his nose and decided he needed to sleep, or at least, go to bed.

“Lance!?”. It was his Mother’s voice. “Dios mío!, what happened to you!?.” She rushed to his side and , as mothers do, brushed his cheek with her thumb.

He looked up at her. He hadn’t had a headache this big in a while. He was so drained. “A lot. Keith’s staying over. It’s not safe for him at his house.” He said.

“Are you okay?. Is  _ he _ okay?.” She questioned, her dark eyes wide with worry.

“I think he’ll be okay. He just needs some time. And some love and I’m going to give him more than enough of both.” He told her. He leaned up and kissed her forehead. “I’m tired now, goodnight.”

“Goodnight.” she said, sounding bewildered.

Lance would’ve gone straight to sleep but he remembered Hunk. God, what on earth could he tell Hunk. He reached for his phone and remembered with a glare that t was still with Carter. He pulled his laptop onto his lap and brought up facebook. He clicked onto his messages with Hunk. He decided that right now was the time for as much honesty as he could without going over the line.

**Lance:** I found him. He tried to

As he typed this he found it hard to finish the sentence. He deleted it all and tried again.

**Lance:** Keith’s staying at mine. He tried to kill himself but I stopped him. I think he’ll be okay.

**Hunk:** holy shit 

**Hunk:** i’m freaking out is he really okay?????

**Hunk:** should I come over???

**Hunk:** I should’ve gone with you

**Lance:** don’t come over, he’s sleeping. Come in the morning

**Hunk.** Okay. first thing.

Lance slammed his laptop closed after that and didn’t look at it. He sat in the right corner of his bed, where it met the wall. He tugged his blanket up over himself and brought his knees to his chest. He wasn’t getting any sleep tonight. None. 

It was too much, it was all too much. Lance felt weak and he was sick feeling weak. He and his mother had moved here to improve their lives and all he had found was the reality that he was useless. He couldn’t save Keith from his pain and he couldn’t save his family… He couldn’t even save himself.

Lance wanted to cry but he had nothing left. He just felt empty, like the last parts of his energy had squeezed out and he’d been drained of everything. He lifted his hand from it’s position on his bed and stared at it. It was barely visible it the dim light. Like a dark cloud in the night sky. He wiggled his fingers ten let his hand drop at his side. He just wanted to make sure he was still real, because right now everything felt like a strange, cruel hallucination. 

He wanted to be away from here. He squeezed his eyes shut as realised he remembered this feeling. It was like deja vu. The feeling had been so raw before and now it had resurfaces. It was like he’d knocked the scab off an old wound and now it was fresh again. He curled into his sheets.

He was sick of running, now was the time he needed to fight, to face all that made him feel as empty as he did. He needed to stand though he felt weak, to smile though he was empty and to stay though he wanted to run. For Keith, for Hunk and for his Mother.

A small bit of hop made its way into Lance’s heart then and he slid down his bed, his head hitting the pillow gently. He closed his eyes, he was exhausted. and, thankfully, he fell asleep.

Lance awoke and revelled in the few seconds where he didn’t remember what happened. In those moments everything was good and pure until the harsh reality slapped him across the face. He sighed and rubbed his eyes before getting out of bed. He dressed himself in clothing from the floor then went to see if Keith was up.

He padded across the hallway carpet and tapped on the door and called. “Keith?... are you up?.”

A small “Yes.” Came in return.

He opened the door. Keith was sitting on the bed dressed in the pajamas Lance had given him. He didn’t look up at Lance. He was staring down at his hands which were tightly clenched together. Lance didn’t know what to say.

“I- I….” Keith stammered. 

“We don’t have to talk about anything right now, if you don’t want.” Lance said.

“I… thank you.” Keith said. “But I think we should… talk a little.” He released his hands then looked up at Lance. “Sit with me… please.”

Lance sat beside Keith. “Talk?.”

“Mmmhmm. I wanted to say sorry about what I did yesterday, I was stupid I-”

“Keith, you don’t have to apologise for that, It was a mistake, I know you wouldn’t have tried anything like that if I hadn’t messed everything up. I Should’ve told you what Carted was doing the first time he beat me up.”

Keith shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what the reason was, it was stupid… and it’s not your fault either. You were just trying to protect me.” He said. That was when he looked at Lance. “Thank you for trying to protect me….”

Lance’s hand balled into a fist.  _ Trying. _

“What are we going to do about Carter now?.” Lance asked.

“Nothing.” Keith said.

“Nothing!?.” Lance exclaimed. “Why?.”

Keith grimaced and began to shake a bit. “I.. I don’t think I could do it.” He was tearing up. “His mother would resent me and I don’t want to… I  _ really  _ don’t want to relive it.”

Lance took his hand and smiled at him. Keit’s saking dulled at the tousch of his hand. “Okay. we can talk about it another time but I think now is the time for breakfast, I smell something cooking.”

He led Keith downstairs to the source of the smell, Bacon, eggs and sausage. His mother was bustling round the kitchen with her apron on, she ran over to them when she spotted them. “Are you alright now Lance?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” He replied, giving her a smile to convince her and maybe himself a little too because right now he didn’t believe it.

“And Keith?.” She asked. 

“Oh, yes fine. Sorry for-” Keith began.

“Don’t apologise Keith, it’s okay.” Lance said. “Right Mamá, he can stay here?.”

“Of course as long as you need.” she said. It was clear she wanted to know more but, as Lance looked at keith, Lance could tell he didn’t want her to know.

Lance heard a yap from by his feet. “Rex!.” He said scooping the dog into his arms. He was bigger now and heavier too. “Keith this is Rex, Rex, Keith.”

“Rex?.” He snorted cutely. “But he’s so small.”

Lance felt his body go still at the smile. Not because of how beautiful he looked, no, though that was a part of it. He went still because he knew that smile in a few moments would disappear to reveal  his pain. He hugged Rex tighter for a second then let him down. Keith’s pain returned in the pressed line of his mouth.

His mom served them breakfast and they ate in semi-silence. Neither Lance or Keith were trying to keep up the conversation but his mother had her nervous chatter going. A smile that was too big for the atmosphere in the room and an upbeat attitude that showed just how not upbeat they were.

The doorbell rang and his mom went to get it, ruffling his hair as she passed. She came back a second later followed by Hunk. He looked tired and very worried. “Let’s go to my room.” Lance said.He led them upstairs and sat on his desk chair facing Hunk and Keith on the bed. 

“I’m not gonna lie I have so many questions that i’m trying my very best not to ask but it’s really really really hard not to.” Hunk said in one breath.

Keith took a breath and sighed. “You don’t have to worry.” He said. “You don’t. It was a stupid mistake, I was confused... and hurt... and drunk.” He dropped his face into his hands. “I don’t really want to talk about it anymore okay?.”

“Okay.” Hunk said.

“This isn’t gonna work.” Lance said, the words slipping from his mouth before he knew it.

Keith looked up from his hands. “What?.”

“Y-you can bury it all.” He said. “It… it doesn’t stay buried, because I tried to bury it and it still hurts. You can’t run from things like this, no matter how hard you try. Because it doesn’t work.  _ It doesn’t work. _ ”

“Why can’t I try if you did!, I don’t  _ want  _ to think about it!, I don’t  _ want  _ to talk about it.” He shouted. “Why do I have to talk about it if you don’t?.”

“You’re right.” Lance told him. “ I’ll tell you… but there’s somewhere we have to go first.” Then he stood up and walked past Hunk and Keith. He gestured them to follow. They went back downstairs. 

“Mamá.” Lance said. “I’m going to take them to our old home.”

“Lance, Mijo, really?.” She asked, tearing up.

He nodded. “Can I take the car?.”

“Yes, of course, go.” She pulled the keys from her pocket and pressed them into his hand. “Take this too.” SH\he gave him some money. “Take your time. Te amo.” Her voice wavered. She caressed his cheek.

“Te amo, Mamá.” He said back to her, his voice wavered to mirror hers. 

He packed a bag. Pajamas for him and Keith. He knew they’d be gone more than a day. His toothbrush and another for Keith. The old phone he had in his drawer. He left his nintendo on his desk, this wasn’t a trip for fun. He slung it over his shoulder and went downstairs.

They went to the car and Lance took his place behind the wheel. Keith took shotgun and Hunk took the back. They didn’t ask questions. Lance started up the car. He was about to do something he should’ve done a long time ago. Tell the truth.


	17. It Was My Fault.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> shit gets REAL in chapter 18, seriously bring tissues i'm not joking i was crying like the whole time when I wrote it..... anyway enjoy this chapter!!  
> Edit: deleted and re-uploaded this chapter bc AO3 was being a butt,,

It was five in the afternoon and, as it was winter, the sun was beginning to set. The three of them were in a weird state of not-normal. There was a tension between them that was causing silence and yet they were trying to act like it was any other day, there were dumb jokes and casual mockings. But they were still aware that it wasn’t normal.

So far they had been on the road for five hours and hadn’t stopped. Lance had his hands clenched around the wheel and was concentrating on the road. He realised he was hungry as he passed a sign for a McDonald’s. “Wanna stop for food?.” He asked.

“Yeah.” Keith said.

Hunk opened his mouth to speak but a growl from his stomach answered for him. Lance and Keith laughed at him. “I suppose that’s a yes then…” Lance said, turning off the next exit.

He took them to the McDonald’s deciding he couldn’t be bothered to find anywhere else, there were no objections from his passengers. They sat down in their booth with their meals and ate with gusto. Lance didn’t know about the other two but he was starving.

“I’ve never-” Keith began.

“Don’t tell me you’ve never eaten McDonald’s!” Hunk exclaimed, half his burger already in his mouth.

Keith snorted and shook his head. “No, no. I’ve never had curly fries.” He gestured towards the packet on Hunk’s tray.

“That’s an equal travesty.” Hunk said, he pushed his curly fries towards Keith. “Take one.”

Lance watched as Keith pulled one from the grease covered packet and inspected it’s form. He wrinkled his nose. “It can’t be that good.”

“Please,” Hunk said. “Don’t blaspheme in front of me, just try it.”

Lance’s eyes followed the fry as it went into Keith’s mouth. They gauged his reaction. He chewed then his eyes widened. “Hunk…” He said. “Sorry.”

Hunk held his hand up and shrugged, resting his case. “What’d I tell ya.’”

Lance smiled to himself. He had some good friends. Once they had all finished they piled back into the car and carried on down the highway.

“Lance.” Keith whispered, facing the back of the car.

“Mmhmm?.”

“Hunk is asleep.”

Lance listened and heard his soft snores. “He was probably up all night last night.”

“You don’t look like you slept much either.” Keith said. “Shouldn’t we pull over and stay at a motel or something?.”

“I would.” Lance said. “But I’m not sure if I’d have the courage to keep going if we stopped for long.” He kept his eyes locked on the road, it was hard to be honest while you looked somebody in the eye.

“I think you can do it.” Keith said.

Lance sighed, his fingers tapping the wheel. “You must think a lot of me then, because I disagree.”

“I do.” He replied, sincerely. “I do think a lot of you.”

Lance’s grip tightened on the wheel as emotion flared in his heart. It was surreal to hear that from Keith. It made him feel… worth something.

“Okay… we can stop.” He said. “I think there’s a motel off the next exit… a few miles up.”

“Good.”

Lance could hear the smile in Keith’s voice. He took a deep breath. He concentrated on the street lamps orange lights passing over the car every few seconds, like a heartbeat. Like his heartbeat.

The headlights of the car lit up the sign for the next exit and he took it. There was a sign for amotel that he easily found and he pulled over. The tires made a crunching noise on the gravel of the parking lot as he backed into a space. “C’mon then.” He said “You get Hunk and I’ll get us a room.”

Lance walked up to the main desk and the building seemed promising, it wasn’t five-star but it wasn’t disgusting and the man behind the counter was well-dressed and actually seemed rather friendly. “Hello.” He said.

“Good evening, what can I do ya’ for?.” He asked, sitting up in his chair.

“Could I get a room with three beds?.” Lance asked.

“Hmm. I can check…” He said, turning towards and old off-white computer. He tapped on the keyboard, on which Lance saw most of the letters had worn away from overuse. “Sorry, I’ve only doubles left… there is a twin that we squeezed an extra bed into yesterday you could use, if ya’ want it?.”

Lance stared at the man, that kind’ve meant he’d have to share with Keith. He held out his hand for the key, at this point there wasn’t much reason to worry. Though thinking that didn’t stop the butterflies in his stomach. “I’ll take it.”

“Good, good. Room 205.” He placed the key into his hands. “Fifty bucks a night by the way but i’ll cut ya a deal and bring it down to forty if that room’s spick and span when ya leave.”

“That’s fair.” Lance smiled. “Where’s the room?.”

Outside, to the left of the lot and up the stairs, it’s numbered so you’ll find it fine.”

“Thanks.” Lance called as he left.

“No problem.”

The door swung shut behind him, he glanced at the shadow of himself the glaring light from the inside set on the gravel outside. It was like a pixelated version of himself. He wished this was a game he could turn off and come back to later. But it wasn’t, so he looked up from the ground and walked over to where his friends were waiting. Hunk looked more tired than earlier and Keith just looked cold. “Get a room?.” He asked.

“Yup. 205. This way.” He took the route the man had instructed and sure enough they found the room. When they got inside Lance turned on the bedside lamps and saw that the room was… adequate. It had wallpaper that had clearly been there since the 90’s and was styled to look like it was from the 80’s. The carpet was an odd shade of green, odd in the way it didn’t really fit in with any green Lance had seen. If he had to put a name to it he would've said mushy peas. The worst part of was that the bedspread matched the curtains. “It’ll do.” He announced.

Hunk made no comment on the room and got into the single bed, fully dressed, and fell asleep before Keith had finished bringing in his bag. “Where’s the third bed?.”

“There is none.” Lance told him, his stomach flipping as he said it. “They didn’t have any three bed rooms available.”

“Oh.”

“If you don’t want to share with me then-”

“No, no, it’s fine.” He said. “I don’t mind. It’s not like we haven’t shared before.”

Lance thought back to the time when they shared a bed. Back at their sleepover at Hunk’s. It wasn’t that long ago and yet he felt that it was a lifetime ago. Keith left to change and Lance got into his pyjamas while he was gone. He was in bed before Keith returned.

He sent his mother a text.

Nearly halfway there. At a motel. Te amo.

She replied; take your time. No rush. Te amo. -Mamá.

He smiled to himself.Lance turned off the lamp by his bedside and brought his arm back under the covers. “Night.” He said as Keith joined him.

“Night.” He said back.

In the distance Lance could hear cars passing. Closer, he could hear the hum of the radiator and the steps of other guests outside his door. Even closer he heard Keith, who’s breaths seemed irregular like he was nervous. Then he spoke. “Lance?.” It was the quietest voice he’d heard come from Keith. Lance thought he might not have even intended for him to hear it.

“Yeah?.” He replied, turning over.

“No don’t.” He said. “Don’t face me. It’s hard to be honest when you’re looking someone in the eye.”

Lance pressed his face back into the pillow. “I’ll just listen then..”

“Thanks… Y-you know I told you about what…. What Carter did right?”

“Yes, of course.” Lance said, beginning to feel nervous himself.

“He did it before… Before I knew you….” He said, his breaths were sharp. “It- it wasn’t your fault okay?.”

“Keith, it isn’t about me…” Lance said, though he did feel less guilty.

“Lance, one more thing?.”

“Mmhmm?.”

“Sometimes.. Sometimes he’d come into my room.” Keith said. Lance frowned, he knew what Keith meant. It didn’t take a genius. “So… sleeping is hard… could you?- could you hold my hand till I fall asleep…. I think I might feel safer then. B-but you don’t have to.”

Lance held back the tears that stung at his eyes. “Yes. Of course, Keith. I’d love to. Can I turn over now?.” He asked.

“Mmhmm.”

Lance swiveled over and faced Keith. They were inches away again and there was warmth between them. Keith’s hand was laying palm up before him. He slid his hand over it and slipped his fingers into Keith’s. His hand was cold, he squeezed it.

Through the darkness Lance saw Keith’s eyes flutter closed. He heard his breathing softened into an even pace and it warmed his heart. He placed a kiss onto Keith’s forefinger and whispered. ‘I love you.”

Lance wondered when last Keith had slept properly. If it had been going on since before he even knew him…. Then it was a long while ago. He would’ve cried if he had not feared waking him up. He kissed his hand again, wishing he could kiss him properly. He watched him sleep a bit longer before he himself drifted off.

When Lance woke up Keith was gone, his hand felt empty. He sat up and rubbed his eyes, looking around the room. They weren’t there and he heard no noise from the bathroom. He listened harder and heard their muffled voices from outside the door. He checked his phone, his eyes widened 2:43!!. He leapt from his bed and hurriedly got dressed, he hadn’t at all meant to sleep in so late!, why hadn’t they woken him!?.

He ran to the door and overheard their conversation. He stopped short of opening the door, instead pressing himself closer to better hear their Voices.

“-know you are.” Hunk said. “ I’m worried too. But we have to be patient. If he’s kept it a secret this long it’s got to be important.”

“I just wished he trusted us enough before and maybe he’d be in less pain.”

Lance felt his hand drop from the handle to his side.

“Keith you have to understand stuff like this is difficult. There really isn’t a right way to handle it. Every case is different. I don’t want to bring this up…” Hunk said gently, in his reasoning voice. “ but the Carter thing, for example… if you’d told us sooner.... Get it?.”

“Yeah.” He replied. “I get it.”

He could explain it all now. Then the worry would stop, but Lance wasn’t sure the words would come unless he went back. No. he had to go back, even if it was just to show himself he could do it. Lance opened the door.

“Guys!, why didn’t you wake me up!, it’s nearly three!.” He exclaimed, a fake look of anger on his face.

“Honestly we just got up too!” Hunk said, holding his hands up in defence. Keith nodded in agreement.

“Okay.. i’ll let you off, but let’s go now or it’ll be dark before we get there.”

“When will we get there?.” Keith asked, Hunk shooting him a look.

“Soon.” Lance said. “Soon.”

Keith nodded.

“Food before we go?.” Asked Hunk, a hand on his stomach.

“Naturally.” Lance said. “There’s a diner across the road, we’ll go there.”

When the got into the diner, cleverly named ‘Dina’s Diner.’ It was quite clean but looked as if there was a layer of grease on everything. The boys took a booth and perused the menu, when they put them down a waitress came over with what looked like a genuine smile and asked them what they’d like.

“Pancakes.” Keith said. “With syrup.. Please.”

“Waffles for me, please with bacon and eggs.” Hunk added, giving the menu a final once over. “And orange juice.”

“I’d like bacon, eggs and sausage and a black coffee thank you.” Lance said, handing the woman his menu.

She nodded and then left. It wasn’t long before she was back with their food. Lance dug into his bacon first and relished in the moment the saltiness hit his tongue. Then he watched in awe as Keith drenched his pancakes in syrup. The gooey liquid poured from the container and swallowed the pancake into its form. “Enough syrup there Keith?.” Lance asked.

“Yeah. Perfect.” He said, not quite catching Lance’s tone.

“Not too much?.” Hunk asked.

He shook his head and then in a childlike voice said; “No, lots of syrup is better.”

“Whatever you say.” Hunk said, shrugging and turning back to his meal.

Lance ate his breakfast-lunch in a daze while he watched Keith eat his syrup covered pancakes. The syrup rolled off the edges and got onto Keith’s chin as he took each bite. It was fascinating. Lance wasn’t sure if he’d feel well after eating all that syrup. When Lance finished his food Keith had one pancake left. There was no way he’d eat them all. Apparently there was a way. He scraped the plate clean of any trace of syrup. Lance kind of felt like giving him a round of applause.

“There’s a little-” Lance said to Keith as he stroked his chin. “On your chin- A little-” Keith put a hand to his chin. “Here.” He picked up a napkin and wiped his chin. He realised what he was doing and dropped the napkin. “Oh- um, sorry. There was some syrup...”

“Thank you.” Keith said. “I always get it on my chin.”

“No kidding?.” Hunk mumbled.

Lance didn’t say a word about the syrup thing as they piled into the car but he thought about it. Why was it so freaking adorable?. He stared at Keith in his periphery. Cute.

They were on the highway until the sky was beginning to turn into a sunset. Lance could feel the nerves begin to set in. His fingers felt stiff on the wheel and his chest felt like it was about to burst from anxiety. He gulped. He wasn’t sure if he could do this. He’d come so far. They’d come so far. He looked at Keith. He was staring out into the distance, leaning on his arm which was perched on the ledge by the window. He was thinking about something. He looked beautiful like that. Lance gLanced up to the rear-view mirror to see Hunk who was falling asleep.

As Lance brought his eyes back to the road he noticed that he was closing in on the town he grew up in. They were about twenty minutes away. The exit was coming up. “We’re nearly there.” Lance said under his breath. Meaning only to talk to himself.

“Really?.” Keith asked, his eyes bright.

“Mmmhmm.” Lance replied, a lot less enthused than Keith was.

“Are you okay?.” He asked.

“Yes..” He lied. “Uh.. No.” He felt a sudden desire to cry and he gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles went white.

“Anything I can do?.”

“Just…” he began. “Just don’t let me turn around. Okay?.”

“We won’t.” Hunk said, leaning forward from the backseat. “We’re here for you till the end, right Keith?.”

“Right.” He confirmed.

Lace opened his mouth and paused. He thought he might cry if he spoke right away. “Thank you.... Thank you.”

Hunk and Keith nodded in solidarity and silence overtook the car. Lance could hear his heartbeat in his ears. He never thought he’d find people he’d want to tell his past to. They were so important to him, it was surreal how dearly he held these two in his heart and he knew they felt the same about him or they wouldn't be here.

So. He could do this. With them, he could do this.

When he came upon streets he knew his chest began to feel empty and full at the same. Where he played when he was five. Where he broke his arm when he was ten. Then, finally, where he lived until nearly a year ago.

He stopped the car around the corner. He felt sick and his vision was beginning to be hindered by the appearance of tears. He cut off the engine and held onto the wheel. “We’re here.” He breathed. He could feel himself shaking. Inside and out. He couldn’t pry his hands from the wheel.

“Lance?, Buddy?... you okay?.” Hunk asked.

“I- I need a sec.”

Everything was coming back and they weren’t even fully there yet. His mind was a blur of images from a life he didn’t know anymore. Good times. Bad times. Worse times. He felt himself begin to breath faster, short breaths that didn’t really get any air in. He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

“We’re here Lance, you’re not alone.”

He took a breath. “Okay.”

They got out of the car and Lance felt like static was running through his body and making all his hairs stand up on end. He felt like he could be blown over at any moment. He clenched his fists and leaned forward onto his knees.

“Lance.”

He looked sideways. Keith was crouched next to him. “Do you want to hold my hand?.” His hand was outstretched.

He nodded. “Yes. Please.”

Keith took Lance’s hand in his. Lance focused on their contact and the coldness of Keith’s hand made him think about the weather, he hadn’t realised just how cold it was. The sky was clear and the sun was going down. He felt calmer.

He led the two boys down the road, this was a route he’s taken a thousand times before but not once in the past year. This pathway could never be unfamiliar to him and yet he felt as if he were a stranger to it.

He daren’t look up because he knew he wouldn’t see it, he knew he wouldn’t see his childhood home… because it wasn’t there anymore.

He squeezed Keith’s hand and he felt his heart beat faster. They just had to turn the corner and that’d be it… they’d be there. Lance didn’t stop at the corner, knowing that if he did he might very well turn around. So he took the plunge and stepped out.

Lance had to wrench his head up from the floor. It was strange how much nothing could upset a person. And empty lot. Blackened ground. He dropped Keith’s hand and moved closer. There was still debris.

Lance stood before the empty lot feeling Hunk and Keith’s presence behind him. He remembered clearly what used to be there. Every blade of grass, every brick, every toy… every person. He clenched his fist and stared at it. He felt a tear roll silently down his cheek. “Most of my family died here.” He said clearly. “And It was My fault.”


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, here we go. This chapter is a little late as I've gone over it a few more times than usual. i really hope you enjoy/despise this one. 
> 
> A few things for you to check out:  
> [-Playlist I made for this fic](https://playmoss.com/en/klance-2/playlist/in-the-shape-of-a-boy)  
> [-Art for the playlist cover](http://klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com/post/155411903256/cover-for-a-playlist-i-made-for-my-fic-in-the)  
> [-Speedpaint of the art](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErkKum-R4X4)  
> [-Silly klance fic I wrote; I'll be your Mothman](http://archiveofourown.org/works/9241673)

Wind fluttered around the empty lot before him. He didn’t hear any reply to his words. He felt a sick kind of energy in his body. He knew it wasn’t excitement - maybe adrenaline- whatever it was he knew he didn’t like it.

His mouth felt like cotton and his throat was dry but it was time now, for him to speak. So, he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

“I used to be a swimmer.” He began, the words, and where to begin his tale falling into place before he had a chance to think. “Top of the class. Top in the state, even. I was going to regionals.I practiced every damn day, before school, after school, at the weekends... I was obsessed. I spent every free second at the pool trying to get better. I- I missed so much. I spent Luci’s tenth birthday at the pool, my race was coming up. I thought, ‘ _ i’ll be there for the next one _ .’ she didn’t have a ‘next one’. I missed my father’s promotion celebration. I missed Peter’s first soccer game, Federico’s photo exhibit and Rosa’s first day at big school. I missed it all… to swim.” 

Lance remembered it all as clear as ever and with his eyes closed somehow he felt like he was almost  _ still  _ there.

Lance stood at the pool, looking down onto his competition. Their times came nowhere near his. Inwardly, he grinned. ‘Prodigy’, ‘genius’, those were words they used to describe his talent. He had loved swimming his entire life but never thought he could be  _ this  _ good at it. 

Lance worked hard at everything he did but in school he barely scraped C’s and some B’s. Every sport he tried he was never good enough at, they never seemed to  _ click  _ with him, no matter how many he tried.

When Lance got into the pool he barely had to try, it was so natural, so  _ easy.  _ He doubted it could be real until he got out from the other side and everyone else was still swimming. he ‘d look down at their dark forms in the bright water, with his heart elated and his spirit singing.Those moments Lance felt he was worth something, worth the attention he got from his coaches and teachers, he even felt pride in the jealousy he knew his peers had for his talent.

Lance had all the confidence in the world in his talent. That was until he lost a race to a boy from a neighbouring high-school. 

_ Shame _ . That’s what he felt as he stood upon the cold blue tiles of the swimming pool. _ Shame. _ When his father patted his back and said; ‘you can’t win ‘em all son.’  _ Shame _ . When he sat at home with his hands curled into locks of his hair.  _ Shame. _ As the tears fell down his face because for a while he’d been good enough. _ Shame _ . When he realised he wasn’t the  _ best.  _

Lance beat a fist against his carpet and angrily wiped a tear away. He was in the darkness, the whole house quiet bar the distant hum of his brother’s T.V. but for all he cared there whole house could be drowning in noise as he was inside his head.

He picked lamely at a piece of the carpet. “Worthless.” He spat at himself. His eyes flew open. He felt a stab in his chest. Hre realised he meant it. He jumped up from the floor and stood before his mirror. “You can swim.” He whispered, to the person in the mirror. The person with a half moon-lit face. “You’ll be the best.”

That was the moment he made the decision, to be better. Better than anyone. Better than that boy who was better than him. Then. Then he’d be the best.

“Lance!” His father called to him as he reached the door. “Where you going so early buddy?.” 

“Pool.” He replied, his hand clutching onto his gym bag and his eyes focused on the door.

“Oh, okay, but be careful will ya buddy. It’s still dark out.” 

“Course dad, see you.” The cold hit his face as soon as he was outside. He ignored it and marched on. He’d get used to it soon. Every morning was like this one for months. He  _ did  _ get used to the cold. He also got used to barely seeing his family. Every morning he’d head out at the same time, occasionally seeing his father who’d give him this one look. A look that Lance knew meant his dad wanted to say something to him. He sensed it was something of importance. But he never got to know what that was.

Lance had loved to swim. He swam all the time but it wasn’t about the swimming anymore, it was about being  _ the best _ to him. 

The first major thing he missed was his younger sisters tenth birthday. 12th of november. He had a race the coming week. 

She ran up to him, her deep brown curly locks bouncing behind her. “Lance!.” She exclaimed, latching onto his hand.

“What!” He snapped, feeling guilty when her smile disappeared. “Sorry Lucianna, I didn’t get enough sleep, what’s up?.”

“What did you get me for my birthday?.” She asked, her smiled returning. He tried not to let his face react as he realised he’d forgotten. He dug into his bag, searching for something suitable, at the bottom of his bag lay two packets of fruit pastilles. Her favourite. He pulled them free and waved them in her delighted face.

“Happy birthday.” He said to her, placing them into her eager hands.

“Lance!, oh my god, thank you!!.” SHe exclaimed. “I haven’t seen them in aages!.” She opened the packet and popped one in her mouth then offered one to Lance.

“No, I gotta dash.”He said.

“What, why?.” SHe asked, frowning. “It’s my birthday today… we always hang out on my birthday.”

“I can’t cancel Luci, I’m sorry.” He said to her, patting her soft hair. “I gotta go now but I’ll be back later, okay?.”

She pouted. “Okay.” She ran off and guilt welled in Lance’s stomach but he turned and went out the door anyway. He’d lied to her. He  _ could  _ cancel. But he hadn’t.

That’s when it  _ really  _ began. He’d never missed her birthday, or any of his siblings birthdays, before and it set of a chain of him missing things. In reality it was only a few months of this that changed  _ everything. _

His entire life was changed as he looked in the mirror one night and decided he didn’t like who was staring back.

 

Lance took a deep breath. His eyes were focused on the hard dirt. “One night I got home from the pool, coach had begun letting me stay later because I was bugging him so much about it. I’d stayed even later that night. it was eleven o’clock. The week before christmas. I was hungry. If i’d eaten lunch with my father like he offered…” He felt his hands stiffen. “...anyway. I put a pan of oil on to heat up. You know- I thought i’d make sausages. There was some leftover from dinner.” it was getting harder to continue but somehow the words were also pouring out. “I left a cloth by the pan. I went to put my gym bag by the stairs. I sat down on the stairs. Then…..” He sighed, his eyes looking up at where his house should be. “Then I fell asleep.”

Lance’s heart was palpitating and his mouth felt like a desert. “When I woke up…  _ Everything _ was on fire. The alarm wasn’t going off. There was so much smoke.  _ So much _ smoke. It was everywhere. I couldn’t breath. I could hear my little sister screaming.  She was shouting my name. S-she was screaming.”

Lance could remember her screams more clearly than anything that night. They had been so clear. It was  _ his  _ fault she’d suffered....  _ His fault. _

“She was screaming for me. I tried to go to her b-but that’s when the firemen came. They grabbed me. I tried to get to her, to Luci. She was crying. She was crying for me and I couldn’t help her. They dragged me from the house. I passed out on the lawn. When I woke up…. They were all gone. Everyone, but Mamá. She was at work.”

“Lance it-”

“¡No te atrevas a decir que no fue mi cul- Don’t you  _ dare  _ say it wasn’t my fault! ¡Porque lo fue!. It fucking _ was! _ ” Lance screamed. He’d wanted to declare this so badly, so violently. He wanted to voice the guilt he had buried so deep. To tear it from it’s hiding spot and bear it to the world. “It was  _ my  _ fault! .” He felt his knees crash against the pavement, scraping his knees. “I was finally good at something and I wanted to be the best at it. And I didn’t realise what I was doing until… until it was too late.”

“Lance it’s okay.” Keith said, his eyes were glistening and there were tears running down his face. Lance hadn’t noticed but Keith’s hand was on his shoulder and he was crouched next to him. Hunk was on his other side.

“I think they’d forgive you.” Hunk said, his face was wet and blotched. “I don’t think they’d want you in pain anymore. I think it’s time to forgive yourself.”

His brain was frazzled. He was listening, but everything just felt… numb.

“It was an accident Lance. It was terrible and horrifying but it was an  _ accident. _ ” Keith said, he took his hand and kissed it, one of his warm tears falling onto it. “I’d forgive you.”

Lance’s bottom lip quivered and he threw his arms around Keith. He had needed to hear that. He hadn’t known it, but that’s what he’d needed. He felt Hunk’s hand ruffle his hair. “Keith, tell him.” he said as he stood. “I’m going back to the car.”

“Wait, what?.”  Lance said, looking up to Hunk through his tears.

“It’s okay, I think you guys need a sec. See you later.” He waved and headed away.

Lance watched his go and turned to Keith. He cried himself out, it was messy and wet and he cried until his head hurt. He let it all out like he should’ve done ages ago. Then he sniffed and wiped his nose. Keith let him sit in silence, holding him in his arms.

“W-why did Hunk go?.” he asked.

“Because he knew we had something to talk about.” Keith said. “It could wait though.”

“No.” he said. “Tell me.”

“Lance…” Keith smiled then and everything was bright.  “we’ve only known each other for a few months, but I love you. Hear that Lance McClain?, I love you!.”

Despite the situation his lips curled into a smile. “Good because I love you too, you asshole.”

Keith laughed, the tears on his face now looking somewhat misplaced. “Good.” Keith grabbed either side of his face and pulled him into a kiss, it was short and sweet but  _ god  _ was it satisfying. “You don’t know how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

“C’mon then, boyfriend.” Lance said as he stood up. “I’d better introduce you to my family.” He took Keith’s hand and led him down the road. It was a ten minute walk spent in silence, a warm silence though.

Lance opened the gate to the cemetery, it’s black bars felt like ice. The entire place was lit up with the last remaining sunrays of the day. Soon, it would be night. He took Keith to the edge of the cemetery where, all in a row, his family lay. 

“That’s my father. Jacob McClain.” He said to keith before he knelt down in front of the polished black marble. “Dad this is Keith, we’re dating.”

He moved to the next one. “This is Federico… he was fourteen… he liked photography and he was fucking great.” He desperately trying not to cry now. “Rico, this is Keith… He’s my boyfriend.”

He shuffled along. “This is…” He took a sharp intake of breath. “This- this is Lucianna, she was… she was ten. I gave her fruit pastilles for her tenth birthday... “ He was crying now. “I used to save her the last slice of my pizza… because she liked to taste what I had. Luci…. This is Keith and I think you would’ve liked him.”

At the next he said. “This is Peter…. He was nine. He liked football and I never - I never got to see him play.” He choked, his vision was blurred with tears now. “Petey, this is Keith I’m in love with him.”

Finally he came to the last one. The smallest one. “Rosa. This is Rosa.. she was f-five. She liked the colour blue… Rosy-posey, this is Keith and he helped me a heck of a lot.”

Lance stood up, stumbling half-way. Keith caught him with a hand around his shoulders and the other bracing his waist. He helped him stand up. He looked at the gravestones all lined up neatly. His mother kept good care of them. There were flowers in a marble pot in front of each one.

“Keith.” Lance said as he stared down at the graves.

“Yes?.”

“I think I need a moment with them.”

“You sure you’ll be okay?.”

He only nodded. Keith gently let him go, giving him a kiss on his shoulder before walking away. Lance just stood there and breathed. This was the first time he’d been near them since the fire. There hadn’t been a wake because the bodies were… they weren’t  _ them  _ anymore. He couldn’t bear going to the funeral. Luci hated the dark. He didn’t want to see her being put into the darkness forever. So he’d stayed at home, played video games mindlessly until his mother returned home. They didn’t properly speak until nearly a month after the funeral. Then they moved. They ran away.

“I’m sorry I didn’t come back sooner.” Lance began. “I’m sorry I missed your promotion dad. I’m sorry I missed your exhibit rico. I’m sorry I missed your birthday Luci. I’m sorry I missed your game Petey, Mamá always told me you were great.” He sniffed but let the tears fall, it was too hard to stop them now. “A-and Rosey-posey, you were very smart and I-I know you’d have  been great at school.”

He ran both his hand through his hair and wiped his tears away but it wasn’t too long before they were replaced. “I’m sorry.” He said, his voice wobbling. “I’m sorry I couldn’t save you… I’m s-sorry that I let this happen… It was m-my fault. Luci, even though I heard you calling, calling me to save you… I couldn’t.” That was all Lance could get out before he fell to his knees. The stones on the pathway dug into his palms. His tears dropped onto the ground. Sobs racked his body. “I miss you guys…”

He stayed like that for over ten minutes then slowly sat back to look at the graves again. His entire body felt tense. He got up from the ground and the lamps that lined the pathway burst into light. He hadn’t noticed how dark it had gotten. He started to walk away, then something strange happened. He felt a rush of wind from behind him and turned around. In the distance he could see a figure. Small… a bush of curly hair. 

“Luci?...” His eyes widened. Others appeared near her, the rest of his family. They weren’t  _ them.  _ They were glowy figures that resembled them. He was stuck in place. “I’M SORRY!.” He yelled, the shout coming from his core. There was another rush of wind against his face and he held up his arms and stumbled backwards in its strength.

When he opened his eyes the figures were gone. He wondered if they had even been there at all. But the relief and the great sense of peace he felt told him otherwise. “I love you.” He said with a smile before turning to leave. He was sure he’d return again.


	19. LM + KK

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're nearly done here :'(
> 
> [me (klanceforthesoul)](http://klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com/) and [Anetteloli](http://anetteloli.tumblr.com/) made a Klance ask blog!!  
> [askkeithandlance](http://askkeithandlance.tumblr.com/)
> 
>  
> 
> [Art I made for this chapter!](http://klanceforthesoul.tumblr.com/post/155972049661/his-world-in-that-moment-was-keith-for)

Hunk and Keith were leaning against the car when he rounded the corner. They looked to be deep in conversation. Keith’s eyes flicked up to meet his and he stood up from his position and ran over, followed by Hunk at a slower pace. Keith grabbed his hand. He didn’t say anything but the look Keith gave him said a lot. 

“There’s just one more place I want to take you guys.” Lance said, smiling gently. “It isn’t far away and I know it’s dark but… I want to show you.”

Hunk smiled at him. “No worries. We’ll follow you wherever you want.” Keith supported Hunk with a firm nod.

“Okay then. Follow me.” He turned back around and led them off to the left, towards a dirt path. He was completely aware, while they were walking, that he was holding Keith’s hand. It was colder than his but the warmness he felt in his heart while he held his hand was a great feeling. It fit perfectly too, like it was  _ meant  _ to be there.

The dirt path was lined either side by gnarled trees, thick bushes and various broken walls and fences. It wasn’t long before they arrived at the place Lance wanted to go with them. They got into the field by hopping a small stone wall, which was covered in weeds and some thicket. The grass in the field was taller than Lance remembered and the oak tree that lay nearly perfectly in the centre and towered above. The last glimpses of light were long gone and the only light they had was from the moon and Hunk’s phone torch. Lance and Keith were concentrating too much on holding hands to bother with that.

“Is that the tree you told me about?.” Keith asked gesturing vaguely towards it. “Your favourite place….”

“Yeah… that’s it.” They approached the tree.  Lance dropped Keith’s hand and began to climb. The limbs of the tree were large and sturdy, the kind you could trust. Even though it’d been so, so long since Lance had climbed it, the journey up still felt like second nature to him, like breathing or blinking. 

“Hunk, I know you won’t wanna come all the way up.” He called back when he was halfway up. “Don’t worry, just do as much as you can… the most important part is the view.”

“Thanks Lance!.” Hunk called back. Lance couldn’t hear it but he was sure Hunk had let out a sigh of relief.

He could hear Hunk and Keith straining behind him and he went on ahead. He reached his spot. The place he would sit every time he came here. He sat down on the limb, even as high up as he was the tree still held him with confidence. He kept his eyes closed at first, letting the small breeze blow across his face. It was so familiar and so… distant. 

Suddenly it was five years ago and the warmth of the glaring sun was on his face. From here he could see his house. He could see his Mother welcoming his Father home, pulling him by the tie and kissing him on the cheek. He could hear her call of “Dinner,  Mi niños!! .” and he’d climb down in a hurry, maybe fall over in the field as he rushed back, getting a scrape on his knee and mud on his short all to get to what his mother had so lovingly made.

He let his eyes fall open. He was facing his house, or where it used to be. The blackened plot of land could even be seen as far away as he was. It was illuminated by the street lamp across from across the road. It was like a scar on the land, a glaring obvious scar that let everyone know what it was from, even if you didn’t want them to. Lance had never seen that sight from his tree, he never thought he would either. 

He looked down as Keith approached, he looked to be locating the branched by the silvery highlight the moon had bathed the world in. Lance offered his hand to pull Keith up the last part of the way. He took it. With a grunt, he pulled. Keith ended up sitting just below him, by an inch or two, on the branch beside him. Hunk ended his journey a metre or two below them. Lance was impressed he’d come up as far as he did. 

He pulled out his phone and shone the torch on the tree. Right where he remembered them being, his initials were carved.  _ LM.  _ He ran his fingertip over the rough surface. “Carve your initials under mine.” Lance said. 

Keith looked at him and smiled gently, looking honoured to be included. He dug through his pocket and brought out a key and began to dig it into the thick layer of bark. Lance watched the concentration on his face, he could tell Keith wanted this perfect and that just made him love him even more.

“Hunk!, you too!, carve your initials into the tree!.” 

“Got it!.” A moment later he added. “Wow!, there’s so many!.” Hunk was right. The tree was covered in these markings from people that had wanted to mark the world so they’d given this tree a  tattoo in hopes of being remembered. Of being thought of. Of being  _ present. _

Once Keith was finished his work he sat back and looked at it.  _ LM  _ followed closely by  _ KK. “ _ I think there’s  _ one  _ more thing I should add to this…” Lance mused. “Hand me your key please.”

Keith frowned at him but he handed over the key. Lance covered his work as he did it, not wanting to reveal what he was doing until it was finished. When he  _ was  _ finished he watched for Keith’s reaction.

_ LM _

_ + _

_ KK _

It was surrounded by a thin, jagged heart shape. Keith looked from the design back to Lance. He could see that Keith was tearing up. Lance felt his heart skip a beat, he nearly dropped his phone. He put it into his pocket.

“Lance-?” Keith asked through the darkness. Faintly, he saw Keith’s breath’s raise into the air. He could make out Keith form from the moonlight. He dove in while his confidence lasted, making their mouths meet. Keith was soft, that was his first thought and as he ran his hand up behind his neck and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, he confirmed it. When he felt Keith’s hand in his hair he felt the encouragement to go a little further. He licked a line along Keith’s top lip and his mouth opened. He moved slowly, like dipping yourself into a hot bath. Warm and comforting and relaxing. But it was exciting too, his heart raced as their tongues met, his mind no longer knew where he was or what he was doing, it was all Keith. His world, in that moment,  _ was _ _Keith_. 

“Hey you guys better not be making out up there!.” Hunk yelled. “I will not be the third wheel on this tree!.”

Lance burst into laughter as he parted from Keith. “Whatever Hunk I’ll french him if I wanna’ we’re bfs now.”

“You were  _ frenching!?”  _ Hunk exclaimed. 

Keith shot him a look, Lance knew he was blushing. “Shut up!.” He hissed.

“Wait- You’re going out!?” He shouted. “Since when!?.”

Lance tilted his head, thinking. “About an hour ago.”

“Keith you were sitting by me for ages and  _ you didn’t tell me!, _ i’m deleting you as a friend… what the hell.”

“What, no!.” Keith shouted back. “I was embarrassed, I didn’t know how to say it and I didn’t-”

“Nah… deleted.”

“ _ Hunk- _ ”

Lance fell into peals of laughter and clutched his stomach.  _ This  _ was exactly what he needed. His friends being his friends. He knew he would be okay if he had them, he just  _ knew.  _ He grinned at Keith, looking directly into his bright eyes. He let their foreheads bump together and he cupped his face with both hands. “I love you.”

“I can hear you guys being gay up there!.” Hunk called, a smile in his voice. “I’m gonna head back… see you in a while.”

“No  _ Hunk _ !.” Keith said.

“Nah I’ll give you guys a minute. But  _ only  _ a minute.” The leaves rustled and branches creaked as he made his way down. “Bye!.” He said as he left.

“Hunk’s not really annoyed with you.” Lance whispered, feeling that Keith might be thinking that. “He was only kidding.”

“I hope so…” Keith said. “Idiot.” His voice went lower. “ _ My  _ idiot.”

Lance couldn’t help but kiss him again. He pressed his lips to Keith’s and smiled as he did so. It was strange to go through such different emotions in only a few hours. He had been inconsolable earlier but now he felt like he had some glimmer of hope again. Lance sat back and looked at Keith. 

Keith’s hand went up to their markings in the tree and his finger traced around the heart. “I didn’t know how real this could be, you know,  _ us.”  _ He whispered.

Lance nodded. “I didn’t think it could happen either…. But here we are.” And there they were, sitting across from each other and feeling the same things. “Anyway… we’d better go, before Hunk drives away on his own.”

Lance led the way down, his brain unconsciously accessing his memorised map of the tree’s branches. He spent most of the time making sure Keith got down, and  _ maybe  _ sneaking glances at his butt. But only  _ maybe. _

They reached the ground safely and stared out into the night, Lance felt giddy, light. It wasn’t a feeling he thought he’d have at the start of the day but it was one he rejoiced in. Suddenly he felt like he wanted to run. So he did. He leapt through the field, jumping and throwing his arms high. “Woohoo!” He yelled.

“Wooo!” he heard the cheer from behind him. Keith was running too.

He vaulted over the wall and they ran side by side down the dirt path, making much too much noise for the hour. But right now, he couldn’t care less. The cold winter wind flowed into his face and he felt each step. Each breath as he took it in. Each slap of a branch against his skin. He was  _ present. _

They left the path and the car was in sight. Lance eun slowed to a walk and Keith stopped beside him. Lance could see hunk shivering in the driver's seat of the car. The light inside the car was on. Hunk motioned them over then rolled down the window. “Come on!.”

They hurried over. Lance went to hunks window. “You two sit in the back, I’ll drive.” He said.

“No, Hunk I can-”

“You can sit in the back and cuddle Keith.” He leaned towards Lance. “And I  _ mean  _ cuddle. No…  _ other stuff.” _

Lance raised an eyebrow at Him. “Hunk. I’m not an animal.”

“Whatever dude just get in.” Hunk said, taking hold of the wheel. “I’m doing you a favour.” Then he shut the door, leaving Lance without a choice.

Lance shook his head. “Okay then.” He turned to Keith. “We’re getting in the back.”

“Oh… Okay.”

They piled into the back, Lance sitting behind Hunk and Keith on the other side. “Here move to the middle.” Lance said, patting the seat. “Next to me.”

Keith looked a little hesitant, glancing at Hunk, but he did as requested. 

He slid over and buckled up. Hunk started the the car and they headed off, Lance gave directions on the way out soon, they were on the highway. At this point they were all tired, Lance hadn’t realised until then how drained he was. Next to him, he could see Keith’s eyes were drooping, he smiled fondly. “C’mere.” He said under his breath. He reached his arm around Keith and guided him down until his head was resting in the crook of his arm.

If he weren’t so tired Lance was sure he’d be a hell of a lot more nervous than he was. But he felt his own eyes begin to droop so he let his head come to a rest on Keith’s and slowly blinked asleep.

When he awoke he heard soft music coming from the Radio and the dull thrum of the engine. Keith was still lying against him. Lance noticed then how nice he smelled and he nuzzled into his hair. 

“Hunk.” He mumbled. “What time is it?”

“Oh, you’re up. It’s nine.” He said.

“How far are we from home?.”

“Three hours I think.”

“Should we pull over?.” Lance asked.

Hunk hummed as he thought about it. “Yeah, I’m super tired. There’s a motel in a few miles, stop there?.”

“Yup.” Lance said.

When they pulled up to the motel Hunk got out of the car and went inside. Everything was quiet after he left amplifying the noises that usually went unheard, like the soft breaths that came from Keith and Lance’s heartbeat. He heard Hunk returning when he was quite far away. 

“I got us a room.” He said “Three beds this time.”

“Cool.” He turned his attention to Keith and tapped him on the shoulder. “Hey, hey. Keith… wake up.”

He woke up and rubbed his eyes and sat up. “Where are we?.”

“A motel, c’mon let’s get to bed.” He put his arm around Keith and they followed Hunk up to the room. 

This time Lance didn’t pay much attention to his surroundings and just got into bed, none of them were standing for long. He fell asleep quickly but woke up only a half hour later.  Lance found he couldn’t fall asleep again. So he sat up. Across the room he saw that Keith wasn’t there. He gLanced over to the bathroom but the light wasn’t on. He hopped out of bed and went to the bathroom door, to see if he’d gone in the dark but the bathroom was empty. He wandered out of the door and looked around. It was freezing outside and as he cringed as he stepped out onto the concrete. He spotted a blanket covered figure sat where the balcony stopped. He saw Keith’s dark hair poking out.

“Hey.” He sat beside Keith and stuck his legs out of the bars, letting them swing as they dangled. “Why’re you out here?.”

Keith mumbled something, not looking up at Lance.

“Huh, what was that?.”

“I was thinking.” He said. “About… about Carter.”

“Oh… right.” Lance looked down at his hands, he hadn’t forgot about Carter, he just had neglected to remember.

“I-I think I want to do something about what he did to me” He said. “So… so he can’t do it to anyone else.”

Lance offered Keith his hand and he took it. “You’re very brave Keith, and you won’t have to do any of this alone because I will be right here beside you every step of the way.”

Keith wiped his face, Lance hadn’t realised he’d been crying. “ _ Thank you. _ ”

“Hey, you were there for me weren’t you?.” He asked.

“I was.” He sniffed. “I wouldn’t have ever said anything if- if it weren’t for you.”

Lance’s lip wobbled. “I’m glad I could help you.” He didn’t say any more, fearing he would cry if he did. Keith dropped his hand but only for a moment so he could wrap the blanket around them both.

“What do you want to do about it?.” Lance asked.

Keith didn’t answer for a while then said; “I  _ can’t _ take him to court.” Lance felt him squeeze down on his hand. “I don’t want to relive it…. I’m going to speak to his mom, she’s lovely. She was so, so good to me…. I’m sure she’d want me to tell her.”

Keith rested his head on Lance’s shoulder and sighed deeply. Lance put his head on Keith’s. “You know without you, and hunk, I wouldn’t be here. I wouldn’t have gone to see my family's graves or visited my favourite place… I don’t think I’d ever have even come back to this state… You made me stronger…. Your pain, your suffering, your  _ bravery…  _ it all made me stronger… I think, with you by my side,” He squeezed Keith’s hand. “ _ I can do anything _ .”

Lance felt a cold drip on his hand. He looked toward the sky, checking for rain. He didn’t feel a second drop. He cuddled into Keith. “You’re very important to me… remember that okay?.”

“Okay.” Keith said, his voice cracking. “I will.”

The cold of the ground and the air began to seep into his body and, once again, his eyes were beginning to droop. “Time for bed i’d say.” Lance said into Keith's hair. They got up and made their way to the room. They Shared a look when they entered the room, thinking the same thoughts. Lance followed Keith to his bed and slipped in next to him. They were close, closer than it felt like they’d ever been. Keith’s back was pressed against Lance’s chest and Lance’s arm was draped over Keith's thin frame. His fingers held threaded into Keith’s. This time, falling asleep wasn’t hard.


	20. In The Shape Of A Boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so this is it.... I've gotten better at writing with this and thats good :), I hope you'll return for more klance in the future because there will be lots!. I want to say a big thank you to everyone that stuck with me throughout this entire fic. Thanks to everyone who gave me kudos or wrote a comment. A special thanks to [anetteloli](http://anetteloli.tumblr.com/) who became my friend through this fic and helped me with spanish translations.  
> to have a hand in what I write next read the notes at the end!.
> 
> ill make art later, I made some for this chapter weeks ago but for reasons i cant transfer it from my laptop to my computer so.... fuck man idk... enjoy ily.

Lance was awoken by someone shaking his shoulder gently. He blinked his eyes open and Hunk was standing over him. “I wasn’t sure when to wake you, it’s twelve.” He said with a gentle smile. “I’m gonna go grab us some food for breakfast… I’ll let you wake Keith.” He winked at him and headed for the door.

He sat up and rubbed his eyes, wishing his brain was more awake so he could inform Hunk that anything he thought had happened between them the night before, hadn’t. Next to him  Keith was still sound asleep. He smiled to himself and leaned down and pressed his lips to Keith’s warm cheek. “Come on, mi cariño, time to get up.” He hadn’t intended to say ‘Mi cariño’, which was a term of endearment his dad had often used for his mother. When his dad had found out his mom was cuban he researched things like that to call her when they starting dating. He knew as soon as they met they were meant to be. As did she.

A muted whine came from Keith and his face scrunched up. “Heyyyy.” He breathed into his ear. “Wake up.”

“Hmm ‘kay…” He rubbed his eyes and sat up. “What time is it?.”

“Twelve Hunk said. He went to get food.” Keith had bedhead, strands of his black hair stuck out at weird angles and some was even stuck to his face. “Good sleep.”

He nodded. “Yup.”

“Wanna cuddle?.” He asked.

He nodded. “Yup.”

“You won’t fall asleep again?.”

He shook his head. “Nope.”

“Okay then.”

Lance laid down with his head on Keith’s chest and his hand on his stomach. Keith’s hand went into Lance’s hair. Lance traced circles on Keith’s stomach and listened to the noises it made.  He edged up his shirt a little and continued tracing the circles on his bare skin. “I think Hunk things we were  _ doing  _ stuff yesterday.” Lance said.

“Nooooooo.”Keith groaned. “Did you tell him we weren’t, because we weren’t.”

“I wasn’t awake enough to say anything.” 

Keith sighed. “I’ll explain when he gets back.”

“Don’t bother.” Lance laughed. “I want him to be paranoid that we’re fu-  _ doing things  _ at every given opportunity.” He quite liked the faces it made Hunk make, they were funny.

“I sure don’t. Hunk has a good opinion of me and I won’t let you ruin it.” 

Lance snuggled into Keith’s soft belly. “Okay.”

Lance’s mouth made it’s way to Keith’s belly and he kissed it. He kissed it like you’d kiss a baby’s cheek, swiftly and multiple times. 

“Stoooop.” Keith giggled. “This is why Hunk thinks we’re  _ up to things. _ ”

“Whaaat?, I can’t kiss your belly?.” He placed another kiss on it. “But it’s so  _ nice.” _

“What’d happen if Hunk walked in now?.” Keith reasoned. “He’d say something like ‘even in the hotel room???, I slept here!’ and we’d never live it down.”

“So does that mean we can never kiss or anything, just in case Hunk walks in?. Weeeaak.” Lance pouted.

“Well.” Keith began before pausing. “I didn’t say  _ that.” _

Lance sat up and looked at keith. “So we  _ can  _ kiss??.”

“I mean, sure-”

Lance took that opportunity to plant his lips on Keith’s, he’d meant it as a joke of course but then the door opened. His head whipped around to face Hunk who was wearing a neutral face.“Dude.” He looked at Lance. “other dude.” He looked at Keith. “ _ Seriously?. _ ”

“It was Lance”. Keith exclaimed. “I’m innocent, he’s a fiend.”

Lance frowned and shook his head. “But  _ you  _ were the one that said we could kiss.”

“Is that true Keith?.” Hunk asked, tilting his head forward.

“Well yeah but-”

“So it was you!” Hunk declared, in a mock-discovery voice.

“No!, NO!.”

“He  _ seduced  _ me Hunk.” Lance  gasped, putting his hand to his head. 

“No!-”

“The scandal!.” Hunk joined the game, grinning.

“My innocence is lost!.”

“I told you-”

“The outrage!”

“Guys!.”

Lance and Hunk burst into laughter and Hunk wiped away a tear. “It’s cool Keith I know it was Lance, He’ll jump at any chance to kiss you ‘cuz he’s thirsty.”

“Hey!, offended.” Hunk gave him a ‘ _ really’  _ look. “Okay… fair.”

“Okay, so food.” Hunk lifted up a grocery bag that Lance hadn’t noticed and placed it on his bed. “Dig in boys!”

They ate their meal of store bought sandwiches and water and headed out, they weren’t far from home when they left and Lance felt melancholy in the thought that their little adventure was over. He didn’t think he’d enjoy the trip as much as he had (it was hard to imagine he’d be having any sort of fun on this trip) and as he looked up at Hunk, who was driving, and Keith, who was cuddling him, he realised he could be anywhere with these two and have fun. As they came upon signs Lance recognised he opened his mouth to speak. “Hey, guys?.”

“Yup.” Hunk said, his mouth forming a fixed smile.

“Mm?.” Keith hummed.

“I just wanted to say thank you for coming with me on this trip. It really means alot to me… you see before, when I acting like a shit to my family, I… I couldn’t  _ see  _ it. All I saw was what I wanted to be... and that wasn’t right. That’s the person I was and you guys helped me see the person I am now.” He took a deep breath. “ _ So.  _ Thank you for that.”

“Hey,” Hunk said. “Anytime.”

Keith grabbed Lance’s hand and kissed the palm. “Yeah. Anytime.” Lance might’ve cried if he wasn’t so tired of crying. 

The car pulled into his driveway half an hour after that. The trio emerged from the car, all three different people from the ones that had gotten in two days ago.

“I better get going Lance.” Hunk said. “My mom will be worried.”

He hugged Hunk tightly. Quietly Hunk said to him “Don’t ever think you’re alone. Because you’re not.” Louder, he said; “Keith get in on this action.” They all shared a hug that lingered until Hunk dropped his arms and patted the other two on their shoulders. “See you.”

“See you!.” They called after him.

Lance and Keith made their way to the door. Lance’s mom was in the living room, she was wearing a sunflower dress Lance hadn’t seen in years and her hair was tied up. She looked up and their eyes connected.

“Welcome home!.” she exclaimed running forward, she threw her arms around Lance and she pressed a kiss on his cheek. “Mijo!, welcome home.” she faced Keith and a hand on his cheek. “and you, too, welcome back...”

Keith smiled warmly at her. “Thank you.”

“I would’ve made you guys breakfast but I didn’t know when you would be back.” 

“No worries Mamá, we ate before we left. Actually I wanted to talk to you about…. About visiting them.” She nodded at him, Lance thought she looked proud.

“I’ll go upstairs.” Keith said. Already heading away. “Later.”

“Later.” Lance repeated back to him, waiting until he’d gone to turn back to his mother. He guided he back to the couches and they both sat down. She with her legs together but not crossed and she waited, when Lance sat down she took one of his hands into hers. Lance looked into her deep mahogany eyes. She was a strong woman, and a loving one. Lance thought about what to say but wasn’t sure how to begin. 

“How was it?.” she asked, giving him the in he needed.

“Good, actually.” He laughed a little. “Hunk and Keith made it fun….” he took a deep breath and stared at his hand in hers. “You made the graves look so pretty.” He didn’t think he’d crack that soon, but his voice squeaked and his eyes watered. “I - I’m sorry I didn’t go sooner Mamá.”

“No, no Mijo. It’s okay, you were hurting.” When he looked up he saw she was crying. 

“I’m so,  _ so  _ sorry I let that fire happen.” Tears streamed down his face.

“No, it’s not your fault, if i’d been home…” she pressed one of her hands over her mouth. “If i’d been home…”

Lance’s mouth fell open. He’d had no idea she’d blamed herself.  _ No idea.  _ This entire time. “Mamá no, it was me, I did it not  _ you not you!.” _

“Lance, mijo, you were from working so hard. It was an accident but if i’d been home… like a proper mother-” she was covering her face with her hands now but the tears were still escaping.

“Mamá no, you’re the best mother anyone could ask for, it was my fault!.” Lance felt his voice raising and tried to lower it, to no avail. “Even when I woke up, I could do  _ nothing! _ . I heard Luci screaming!...” he shook as remembered it. It was so clear in his mind. His voice lowered. “I heard her screaming… for me to save her...”

His mother looked up from her hands, horror in her eyes. In a second, he was in  arms. “Lance..” she wailed. “My poor boy… I didn’t know….  _ I didn’t know. _ ” His jaw wavered and he gripped onto her like he was a child again. “Let it out, mijo,  _ let it out. _ ” he coughed then sniffed. He let it out. Warm tears poured from his eyes. He felt safe there, in his mother's arms.

It was a long while before Lance stopped crying. Once he did he sat up and wiped his face on his sleeve.

“You’ll make it dirty.” His mother said softly, handing him a tissue from her pocket.

He blew his nose and they sat in silence. “One more thing Mamá?.”

“Mmm?.”

“Keith. Can he live with us?. He… he can’t go back to where he used to live Mamá, he just can’t.”

“Mijo.” Lance looked at her, she was smiling. “If he can’t go back, for any reason, then of course he can stay here. He be part of our little family. And help it grow.”

He kissed her cheek then stood up. “Thank you.”

“But tell me one thing?” she said, just as he got ot the door.

“Yes?.”

“Is  _ he-? _ ” she asked suggestively.

“My boyfriend?.” smiling that her thoughts about them had been right the entire time, they just hadn’t known it yet. Yeah. he is.”

She beamed. “I thought so. Be good to him.”

“I will... I will.” He left then.

Lance hesitated atop his stairs and looked down the hallway. His left hand was clutching the banister and his right was balled into his shirt. Seeing his mother like that had broken his heart, but now, by having the conversation they had so long avoided they could walk the path of mending together. 

Lance walked past his own room and knocked on Keith’s door. It opened quickly. “Lance… good talk?.” He asked.

“Mm.” He nodded. “Wanna come watch a movie with me?.” 

“Sure.” 

They went into his room and Lance set it up, they watched an old favorite of his “Bambi”, it always helped calm him down. Lance got into his bed while Keith awkwardly stayed standing.

“Where should I-?”

“Keith c’mere ya’ nerd.” he said holding his arm up for Keith to fit into. 

“But.. your  mom?.”

“Keith, we’re not gonna fuck just cuddle me dammit.” The word ‘fuck’ had slipped out of his mouth before he meant it to. Now they were staring at each other, faces beetroot red. “Just- j- just come on.”

Keith took his place and Lance threw the blanket over them and played the movie. About five minutes into the movie Keith said; “I wasn’t going to say anything today but…”

Lance waited but Keith didn’t continue. “Go ahead, what is it?.”

Lance felt keith’s hand on his. “I need to get some of my things from Carters house and I don’t want to go alone… will you come with me?.”

“Of course Keith. We’ll go tomorrow” Lance said, squeezing his hand. “We’ll get all your things… you’re staying with us now.”

“But I can’t give you much money or-”

“Keith you don’t have to worry about money, we’re rich, basically. All my family had life insurance policy… we’re set.”

“Oh.” Keith said simply, there wasn’t much you  _ could  _ reply to that after all.

“Yeah, so don’t worry about it, and my mom agrees too. She said if you can’t go back, you can stay here. You’re part of  _ our  _ family now okay.”

There was a short pause before Keith said; “Okay.” his voice cracked as he said it.

“What?!, what’s wrong.” Lance said, sitting up and trying to look at Keith, who’d hidden his face in his hands. “What?.”

“It’s just” he mumbled into his hands. “I- i’ve never had a proper family before…”

Despite the situation a warm smile spread across Lance’s face. He was happy to be Keith’s new family. His  _ first  _ family. He took his wrists into his hands and looked at Keith’s face. He wasn’t crying, he was a little red though. He dropped his wrists and cupped either side of his face. “I’d say you were like a brother to me but I want to kiss you so…”

Keith giggled. “No we’re not brothers. We’re boyfriends.” Keith’s hands went to Lance’s forearms. 

“Exactly.” Lance breathed before he closed the space between them, their lip meeting softly and tenderly. 

Warm. 

That’s how he felt. Warm. and safe. And good.

It was late afternoon the next day before they headed over to Carter’s house. They held hands the entire way there. Keith’s grip tightened the closer they got. Keith got the key and let them in, they were hoping no-one would be home. But they’d never been the type to be lucky. They went upstairs and into Keith’s room they'd just started to gather things when Carter appeared at the door.

“Thought I smelled a taco.” Lance’s fingers stung with disdain, there was nothing he wanted more than to hit him.

He caught Keith’s glance, he was telling him to leave it. For Keith, he’d do anything. So he carried on packing.

“Ignoring me are we?.” He tutted. “By the way, it’s good to see you Keith, I thought you’d offed yourself.. But, no such luck.”

Lance stood and whipped around, glaring daggers at him. 

“Ooodh feisty, see keith, that’s his Latin passion again.”

“Shut up Carter.” Keith spat.

Carter looked surprised to say the least, he clearly wasn’t used to Keith talking back. He stepped into the room and Lance jumped in front of Keith. 

“You can stay  _ the fuck  _ away from him.” He growled, his brow furrowed and his fists ready at his side.

“Easy there beaner, I just want to talk to my dog.” he laughed. “What?, he didn’t tell you?. All the stuff we-”

“He told what  _ you  _ did.” Lance said. “Now fuck off before I get angry.”

Carter raised his eyebrows and scoffed. “Language Taco, and I don’t recall you  _ ever _ being a threat to me. I recall fighting- well it wasn’t  _ fighting- _ beating you, multiple times.”

“We’re just getting his stuff so-”

“Getting his stuff?.” Carter said, seemingly caught off-guard. “ _ Why?  _  He lives  _ here _ ”

“He’s living with me now.” Lance said firmly. 

“No he’s  _ fucking not.”  _ Carter said forcefully, spittle flying from his mouth. When things didn’t go his way, he got angry.

Lance felt Keith’s hand on his arm gently guiding him to lower it. Keith stepped forward. “I’m  _ leaving!. _ I don’t want to see or hear from you ever again.”

“What the fuck did I ever do?.”

“You molested me.” Keith said, water gathering on his eye-line. 

“He  _ what?.”  _ a wavering voice came from behind Carter. Carter’s eyes widened at the sound of the voice. Keith’s hand shot Lance’s. Lance recognised the small mousy woman. It was was Keith’s foster mother. Carter's mother. 

“Mom, I didn’t touch him.” Carter said suavely. She Looked doubtful.

Lance’s mouth opened to speak but Keith shook his head at him. 

“Keith?.” she asked, visibly shaking.

He nodded. A tear streamed from his eye. She gasped, a hand going to her mouth. Her eyebrows upturned. She stared at her son.

“Mom- mom, he’s lying, obviously.” Carter said, losing his cool.

Her lip wobbled and tears poured from her eyes. “Carter I.. I can’t believe you. Keith, how many times did he..?”

Keith stayed completely still. Glaring at carter. His hand began to shake. He wanted to hit Carter too. Lance grabbed the back of his head and pulled him into his chest. “You don’t have to think about it anymore.”

Her mouth fell open. She was horrified. “Carter. Get out.” she said.

“But mom, you can’t throw me out over that faggot kid!” he bellowed.

SMACK.

Her hand lingered in the air. “You’re a disgrace!, go find your good for nothing dad in California. You’re no son of mine.” she spat. Her overly pale face was now an angry shade of red. 

“Mom-” carter spoke weakly, his shoulders had slumped and he was standing like a child. A child who’d been caught stealing cookies.

“GET OUT” She screeched, she pushed him roughly on the chest. “Get out, get out,  _ get out!. _ ”

He ran from the room and down the stairs. Over his shoulder, through the window, Lance saw him run down the street. He hoped he’d never in his life have to encounter him again.

“Keith?, honey?.” Keith peeked up from Lance’s chest. “I’m so sorry… I’m  _ so sorry.” _

Keith nodded. He just looked tired. “It’s okay.”

“You can stay if you like?, there’s always a bed here?.” she offered.

“No… thank you…” He said in a low voice. “I want to stay with Lance now… there’s too much… there’s too much here.”

She nodded, understanding. “You can go on back to Lance’s now, I’ll bring your stuff over. Just send me the address.”

“Thank you. For everything.” Keith rubbed her shoulder. 

She smiled a broken smile that made Lance feel sorry for her. They walked home after that, Lance held Keith close to him the entire way. They went straight up to Lance’s bed when they got back. They lied down face to face.

“Are you alright?.” Lance asked. “Stupid question I know.”

“No, It’s not stupid.” Keith said. “I feel… better?, weirdly. Seeing him cower like that and lose his cool… I think I realise now that he isn’t… all powerful or anything… he’s human. A bad one. But still a human.”

“I don’t think it’s weird. I understand.” Lance brushed a piece of hair from Keith’s face. “I understand.”

Carter's mother came the next day with her car full of Keith’s things. She didn’t say a word about Carter. She just helped bring everything inside. Once they were all done she stood in front of her car and spoke to Keith. Lance watched them both from the window. They were leaning on her car, a pale turquoise old-fashioned car. They were bathed in the glow of the sunset, i bounced of the car. They spoke for ages and the conversation ended with Keith wrapping his arms around her and her driving away. Lance met Keith at the door.

“All good?.” he asked.

Ne nodded. “She’s going back to canada to see her sister, they haven’t spoken in years. Apparently she’s gay. Her family knew but She was forced into marrying her husband anyway , who was cheating on her since they dated. She called her sister last night. She was sorry. I’m glad things are going well for her. She has a heart of gold.” Keith smiled a soft sort of smile that showed his fondness for her.

Lance ruffled his hair. “You’re a good guy.”

Keith batted his hand away, laughing. “I’ll miss her…” Their eye’s met. “But don’t you go feeling sorry for me..” Keith put his hands on Lance’s shoulders and leaned up, pressing a kiss to his mouth, before running up the stairs.

“You-” Lance laughed. “I take it back you’re a devil!.” he chased him upstairs. They sat together and lazily watched movies until it got late. “Hey, i’ve got an idea…” Lance began.

“You and your damn ideas.” Keith said.

“Are you gonna ask me what it is?.”

Keith sighed. “What is it?.”

“Let’s got to the park.”

That’s how they found themselves, along with Hunk, at the park. “What’re we doing Lance?, it’s late?.” Hunk asked.

“You’ll see.” he said smirking.

“God I hate your smirk.” Hunk sighed. “It’s never safe.”

“Shut up.” Lance laughed. “I’m safe.”

Keith snorted and raised his eyebrows. “ _ Yeah _ .”

“Whatever… Ah! There it is!.” He rushed forwards hearing the groans behind him as he did. He was going towards an outcropping of bushes and trees. He ran into the bush and stood in the centre. It was a big enough space, fully covered by branches and leaves, so much so that he had to use his phone’s torch to see.

“Lance?.” The tentative call came from the other side.

“Just come in you cowards!.” 

Keith came through first, wonder in his eyes. Hunk followed looking surprised but impressed. “How did you find this place?.”

“Rex. He ran in here and I had to follow.”

“Why’d you bring us here?.”

“I was hoping you’d ask that!.” Lance declared, holding his chin. “This is our new favourite place, because I think we all need a new one.”

Keith laughed, a joyful laugh. “Okay.”

Hunk shrugged, “Why not?.”

They sat at the base of the tree that poked out of the corner and they just talked. And they talked and they talked, until Hunk had to leave and it was them two again. They stayed a little while before deciding to walk home. The pathways were lit by lamplight and stars filled the dark expanse of the sky.

“We’ll be okay won’t we?.” Keith asked as they walked.

“Mm. I think so.”

Suddenly Keith burst out laughing and ran out ahead of him. Lance grinned and gave chase. They laughed and they ran until keith stopped just before a lamp. Lance slowed just short of Keith. He was gazing up towards the stars. He heard him sigh.

“It still hurts.” he said, not looking at lance but clearly meaning it for him. “I thought it wouldn’t hurt after it was done… but it still hurts... You’re still hurting too, aren’t you?.”

A cold wind blew and gave him a chill up his spine. Keith’s dark hair flowed along with it. “ yeah… I am…”

“I think we can do it.” He said. He paused after this but Lance sensed there was more to come. “I think, together, we can live through the hurt and make it…. Less?, if that makes sense.”

“It does.”

“Okay. Together then?.” Keith turned around, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear. He held out his hand.

He had been there for him through everything. Through it all. so now it was time to be there for him. And for them to be there for each other.

“Together.”

So he took the hand of the boy and he held it tight. Keith had made hope in his world when all he had was despair. He’d shone light onto the darkness that he let consume his life. He came into his world and destroyed the barrier he held against his pain. He had made his way into Lance’s life, in the shape of a boy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What should I write next??
> 
> The one that gets the most votes will probs be the one I do, it might not… but probably.
> 
> A moment with you - One night Keith makes a call to Luminoire Male host club and asks for a man named Lance who shows up at his door. Keith’s mission was to get rid of his impotence, who would've guessed he’d fall in love?.
> 
> The legend of the lost prince - The kingdoms of Altea and Galra have long been at war since, a hundred years ago, the Altean king stole the Galra's beloved prince Keith. Prince Lance, a young confident boy is tired of the war. It has taken his mother, his father and even his sister’s right leg. He wants desperately to find something to stop this war and that’s when he discovers a book. A book with long hidden secrets telling of the legend of the lost prince.
> 
> untitled mermaid AU - when two underwater mermaid kingdoms came to war years ago the galra mermaid forces were wiped out leaving the altean mermaids in peace but trapped behind walls of their own fear. Prince Lance wanders outside these walls one day to find a merman. One with a bright red tail and glowing yellow eyes. A galra mermaid. (description details subject to change)
> 
> The fires of your mind - Lance woke up one morning after an alien fever with thoughts that weren’t his own, Which he would have been able to keep under wraps if Keith wasn’t totally horny for him all the time.
> 
> Untitled Bad boy / good kid au - Lance is the youngest child of the richest family in town while Keith on the other hand is the child of one of the poorest. Their parents have a history and when Lance’s eye begins to be drawn towards him it just screams trouble.
> 
>  
> 
> [click here to vote!](http://www.strawpoll.me/12158970)


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